Robin: Boy Wonder 2
by youwishyouwerethiscool
Summary: Sequel to Robin: Boy Wonder. Robin has finally made hero friends and is establishing a name for himself in the League. But with the older heroes off on an assignment, Robin finds himself in charge of a new team. With the discovery of a strange alien object, Robin is thrown into a new word of familiar and unfamiliar heroes. But he can handle it- he's Robin: The Boy Wonder!
1. Chapter 1

Hello all who dared to love my last book! (I'm well aware that many chapters and a word count in the thousands tends to scare people away). This is a sequel to my first book, Robin: Boy Wonder! Like, love, and continue to read! Prepare to see all those character who know and some new that I throw in for fun. In this book, we meet up once again with Robin who is going to take us on another adventure where we'll see how incredibly amazing he is. Some of you said that you missed some of those characters from Young Justice. Well, worry no longer because I've got something in mind for them. ;) But first, chapter 1!

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Today sucks.

It was suppose to be a good day. It's my birthday, in fact, April 1st. It's been a over year since that fiasco where the League was taken control of and I had to save the day. I feel almost as if things have fallen into a certain pattern of normalcy.

I'm Robin, by the way. Partner to Batman.

Who's going to die if he ever gets here.

We got called on assignment. It may be my birthday, but evil never rests. It's pretty annoying actually. Harley Quinn was jumping around with a mallet disrupting the peace. A huge drug heist was also scheduled to go down that night. Batman and I split up, him going after Harley, me handling the heist. It was boring actually, those guys didn't even put up a good fight.

Batman told me to go to the Watchtower once I was finished. So here I am. I didn't want to be noticed (the last thing I need is to be pestered by a Leaguer) so I moved stealthily into the library, which is where I've been for the last hour and a half. It's eight o'clock at night now, and I'm hungry and done with today.

I'm reading a book that has no title. It's an anonymous superhero memoir. I started it a little while ago, but have never gotten around to finishing it. I lean my chin on my hand as I lean forward, propping the book up with the other. The library usually doesn't get used very often. Batman claims to have read every book in here apparently, though. How, I have no idea. After all, we sort of have a busy schedule.

Fourteen, I think to myself. I'm fourteen today.

And then I think, Another year without my family.

Angry, I brush that thought aside. I have a new family now. I'm fine.

I hear a loud rushing sound. Like feet smacking against the hallway floor. I sigh I place my finger in the book to watch the door.

There's a whoosh and I see a red-headed blur appear in the doorway before disappearing. Wait for it...

Slowly, my best friend Wally West reappears, backing up slowly and craning his neck to look into the room. "Oh, there you are."

I roll my eyes, though he can't see that under my mask.

Wally's wearing his yellow and red Kid Flash uniform but he has the hood pulled down and his goggles are off. He's also got a blue wool coat over his shoulders which looks sort of weird with the rest of his outfit. He's slim but still well built, made for running, which is kind of important in his line of work. He's got dark reddish hair, bright green eyes, and lots of freckles. Classic Irish ancestry.

I, however, and pretty much the exact opposite. I'm small for my age (too small) and I'm pretty wiry. My hair is jet-black and my eyes are a brilliant blue. My skin is pretty pale and clear right now since I live in Gotham, but in the sunlight my Romani genes show and I get a wicked tan.

Wally is the only person other than Batman and Alfred who knows my secret ID. Over the past year, we've grown pretty close. We're a lot alike, actually, more than people might think. Most people pass Wally off as an idiot because he lets his mouth run and is too hyper. But he's actually a science genius. He's not clueless about people, either. A few months ago, he told me what the deal is with his parents, and why he lives with his aunt and uncle (who also happens to be the Flash). He told me how his dad would abuse him and his mom and how his mom would blame him. In a way, he's almost as world weary as me.

"Sup," I say. Unlike Wally, I've got my full uniform, mask and all on. Batman forbade me from letting anyone else know my ID (after he figured out Wally knew). So I basically wear the mask twenty-four seven.

"Dude, how long have you been here?" Wally walks into the room, frowning.

I shrug. "Almost two hours."

"Seriously! I was looking for you everywhere!" Wally crosses his arms, tapping his bicep with a finger at a rate so fast it's just a blur. "Happy birthday, by the way."

"Thanks," I yawn. "Why were you looking for me?"

Wally looks uncomfortable. "Um..." He looks around the room, his eyes falling on the book in my hand. "What'cha reading?"

"Anonymous journals from the last century," I say, not at all buying into his attempt to change the subject.

"Oh...fun..." Wally stares at the book for a few seconds before saying, "So can you come down to the dining hall?"

I close my book and make to stand. "Sure, but why—"

"In a few minutes!" Wally says, gesturing at me to sit back down. "In ten minutes sound good? Then we'll all have dinner."

"Oh, okay, fine." I know Wally's acting weird, but he always acts weird.

"Good. See you in a second." His form blurs and he's gone, leaving nothing but a rush of displaced air in his place.

I sigh and lean back, deep in thought. I haven't been around the League or their sidekicks, I haven't had the time. I wonder what they're all up to. I wonder how Raven's been doing. I wonder if Roy cooled off a little. I wonder if Kaldur got over his fear of disappointing Aquaman. I wonder if Kara's not a clueless newbie anymore. I wonder if they wonder about me.

I open my eyes. Enough of that. Sheesh, I'm beginning to wonder if wondering about people wondering causes something not so wonderful.

I get up and start to make my way down to the dining hall. It's been about ten minutes, right?

As I walk down the deserted corridors, I hear a faint rustle, so faint that anyone else wouldn't be able to hear it over their own breathing.

"You're late," I say.

"Sorry."

I turn to see my mentor, decked out in full black Kevlar with bat cowl. His black cape encloses his body, making him look like a breathing shadow.

I start walking again with him right beside me.

Batman is the first to talk. "I'm sorry, Robin. Harley led me to the Joker. And that turned out to be slightly more difficult than I anticipated."

I snort. "Please, you anticipate everything. Why didn't you call for back up?" I study him. He does a good job hiding it, but I can read him better than I can myself. His movements are stiff and he's favoring one side. "You got hurt. Broken ribs?"

"Stab wound," he grunts. "Got most of the blood out of my uniform though. Agent A wouldn't be happy if I hadn't."

I smile. Agent A is our code name for Alfred. Whenever we're in our superhero personas, we address each other in our superhero names and refer to everything from our normal lives in code. It's sort of funny though. Alfred actually was a member of MI5, British Intelligence, at one point.

"And as to why I didn't call for back up," Batman adds. He knows there's no getting around questions with me. "I thought you would be busy at your party."

I frown. "What party?"

At this point, we've both reached the doors to the dining area. I'm pushing one open as I say this, looking over my shoulder at him.

I see Batman's mouth tighten. "'What party?' You mean you haven't..." His mouth opens ever so slightly. The closest Batman will ever come to surprise. "Oh. Oops..."

Before I can register that the Batman just said, "oops," I'm suddenly aware of the light in the dining hall being sprung on, and people jumping up and screaming, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROBIN!"

I stand there for a moment, blinking at the scene before me, with Batman behind me like a huge silhouette. The entire room is covered with brightly colored balloons and streamers. The League members that know Batman best are all there, all the founding members. I even see Aqualad, Speedy, and Supergirl.

They're all wearing combinations of winter civilian clothing, superhero costumes, and party hats. Oh, it's a surprise party.

I look over at Batman who looks really out of place in the brightly lit room. It was a surprise party. And Batman, the world's greatest secret keeper, spoiled the surprise.

I start laughing. It's my signature cackle, the one that sends chills down the spines of friend and foe alike. I try to smother it with a gloved hand, but it escapes anyways. Batman ruined a surprise party.

I throw my head back and laugh even harder. Batman just stands there and glares at me while looking slightly uncomfortable at the same time.

Superman flies over. He's in his full costume with a pink party had sitting slightly askew atop his head. "Um, Robin, what's so funny?"

Well, I guess the Man of Steel hadn't been listening in. Or he's asking for everyone else's benefit.

Still laughing, I point at Batman, out of breath. "Your...face...!"

Batman growls at me and crosses his arms. He glares at Superman. "You told me the party would be happening...earlier."

Superman scratches his head. "I thought it would be. But Robin never showed up like you said he would and so we assumed you two were on an important mission or something. So we started dismantling the decorations before Kid Flash came running in and told us he had snuck past us and had been here for the last two hours."

I hold my stomach, my laughter giving me a cramp. "Ah, Bat, you...you..." I can't stop laughing.

"Well, at least you're happy about something," Batman says offhandedly, though I know he's watching for my reaction.

I roll my eyes and recover my breath, calming down. He's referring to the sour mood I always get in around my birthday. It's just it brings up all these memories about my parents...

That sobers me up quickly. I look up at Batman. "For now, anyways."

This morning when we visited my parent's grave, I definitely wasn't laughing then.

Batman and I hold eye contact for a second, communicating silently before someone else breaks up the conversation.

"Come on, Bat people," Flash zooms over, grinning widely. "No more long faces. Now that you're all here, the party can finally begin!"

I smile and allow Flash to guide me through the assembled people. People pat me on the back and wish me well, commenting on how they haven't seen me in a while and how tall I've gotten (this is a common joke among the Leaguers since I'm well aware I've hardly grown at all).

"Robin," Kaldur'am greets me, bowing his head slightly. He's got an Atlantean accent and dark skin that seems odd compared to his light colored hair. He recently got the tattoos that I know from studying Atlantis are symbolic of a male's coming of age. Kaldur just turned seventeen, and now bares black tattoos that spiral down his arms to his hands. They increase his water spell's capability, so I've been told. I wonder if they glow like his eyes do when he uses his water bearers.

"Phew, did you get shorter?" Roy Harper grins at me. His hair is a lighter red than Wally's and I can see little scratches on his chin where he cut himself shaving. He's the same age as Kaldur this year.

"Roy, don't be mean," Kara Zor-El reprimands. She's really grown up in just the last few months, and she looks more like a young woman now than a sixteen-year-old girl. "Happy birthday, Robin. Fourteen, huh?"

"Actually, I'm ten now," I say. We all laugh. It's an old joke.

"So do we get cake now that Rob's here?" Wally asks excitedly. He tries to lean an arm against Kara but she brushes him off. It's funny, my best friend thinks he's such a lady's man, but he hasn't had a girlfriend. Well, at least a real one. Kara deals with him, but I don't think she likes it.

"How have you been, my friend," Kaldur says in his formal voice.

"Same old, same old," I say, scratching the back of my neck. I sneak a look over at the Bat. He's doing pretty well acting normal even with his stab wounds. Batman would sooner run himself off a cliff than admit he was in pain. But I can read him well enough to see that he needs medical attention. I run through a few scenarios in my head for what to do when someone's suffering for blood loss. I'm pretty sure I have some hypodermic needles for anesthetic if it comes to that. Do we have a soirée to go to after this?

"Uh, Robin? You there?"

I blink and look over at the others. "Sorry, what?"

Roy rolls his eyes. "You never change. Okay, so we're going to cut the cake and give you presents now."

I wince. "You didn't have to get me anything?"

"Why not! Presents are almost as good as cake!"

"Come, you heroes!" Wonder Woman calls. "The cake is prepared to be sliced."

We walk over to the table where everyone has gathered around. I get pushed up to stand in front of the cake next to Wonder Woman. I like Diana, she's really nice, as long as you don't get her started on women's rights. One time, she cornered me and gave me an hour long lecture about how I should always treasure every relationship I have with a girl. (I get the feeling if she knew what Bruce did in his free time, it would make her toes curl.)

Speaking of Batman, someone manages to get him through the crowd so he's on my other side. He doesn't sing "Happy Birthday" along with the others, but he does give me a small smile when nobody else is looking. I grin, thinking about earlier where he and Alfred threw me a different party. Then I remember that I might have another thing tonight.

We all sit down and Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter start passing out pieces of cake using their powers. Batman declines eating any. I really shouldn't eat it either, I have a strict diet to follow and I've already had one piece earlier. But it's not like Batman's going to tell me not to eat birthday cake in front of all these people.

Wally and Flash have two cakes made separately for themselves. They dig in with so much enthusiasm, it's almost gross. Everyone else is a little more refined, making polite conversation and joking. The most powerful people in the world are in this room right now. Because they wanted to celebrate my birthday. I can almost feel my head swelling.

"Batman," I say slowly, picking at my cake. "Do we have a..." I glance around. Superman, Green Arrow, and Aquaman are closest. They aren't talking and they seem to be listening with a type of detached interest. "Do we have a...thing...to go to tonight?"

Batman crosses his arms, sitting ramrod straight in his chair. "Robin, I've told you not to use the word "thing" when another word could be used."

I point my fork at him. "That's diversionary tactics. Answer the question."

Batman sighs and says tightlipped, "Yes."

I stab my cake. "Will...she be there?"

Batman frowns deeper. "Robin..."

"She?" Green Arrow smiles widely. "Don't tell me Bats has a girlfriend."

That makes almost everyone shut up and listen to our conversation.

Batman taps a rhythm on the table in irritation. "You know this isn't the place to talk about this, Robin."

I smile impishly. "You know it's the only time I'll be able to get an answer out of you. We're in public surrounded by people who value your opinion." I stick some frosting in my mouth. "So you'll tread carefully."

"I know," he says, resting his elbows on the table. Some more people have tuned into us by now. He glares at them. "Doesn't anyone have anything else to do?"

"I think we can all agree, we find the conversations between the two of you rather amusing, my old friend," Aquaman says in his deep voice. "Robin is very much like you."

I smile at the complement before glancing sideways at Batman. "Drawing others into this won't get you out either."

Batman slides my piece of cake away from me, silently telling me he's annoyed. I shrug, I was done with it anyways.

Batman sighs. "Yes, she'll be there."

My lip curls. Bruce Wayne is dated a famous movie starlet named Kiki Lanes. She's the rudest, most obnoxious person on the planet. It's mostly just for show, for Bruce to keep up his appearance as a lady's man and for Kiki to promote her new movie with some press from dating the richest man in Gotham.

"She's a cow," I say, matter-of-factly.

Superman looks at Batman in surprise. Flash chokes on his cake just a little bit. Wonder Woman turns a crimson color.

"I know," Batman says unhappily. He doesn't like this. And maybe I'm enjoying it just a tad too much.

"I was doing some research on what she was before her...current occupation." I fold my hands on the table.

Batman flashes me a warning sign. "Robin..."

"Somebody tried to hide it and did a fairly descent job, but it still didn't disguise the fact that she used to be a—"

"Robin!" Batman snaps, his cool demeanor dropping in an instant. He almost sounds...embarrassed. I smile.

Of course, now everyone is interested.

"What she used to be?" Of course it's Wally who breaks the silence. He knows, of course, who Bruce is dating and why. But he's still playing along.

I show my teeth. "A dancer."

Batman glares at me, almost full force. "Don't you..."

"An...exotic dancer," I finish, smiling wickedly.

Superman turns almost as red as Wonder Woman. Aquaman's mouth turns into a little comic circle while Flash's falls so far open it almost hits the table. Martian Manhunter is nearly impossible to read. Green Arrow laughs with his ward. Wally had his mouth as wide as his uncle's, letting everyone see his half eaten cake. Kara is blushing furiously while Kaldur looks unsure what to do.

But none are more embarrassed than the Batman himself.

"Batman...is dating...an exotic dancer..." Green Arrow and Roy are still howling in laughter.

Batman clenches his fists. Suddenly a look comes over his face. He relaxes slightly and turns to me. "You're going to pay for that."

I scoff. "What could you possibly do? That whole event is for me, after all." It's true. It's a community ball where my birthday will be commemorated. All the richest in Gotham will be there.

Batman's voice takes on a growl. "I could make you give a...speech. And I could extend it until eleven. Including ballroom dancing."

I know I'm pale now. "You wouldn't."

"Maybe next time, you'll think twice before speaking." Batman turns his head toward me. "Is that a rule?"

I cock my head to one side and sigh. "No... Not yet."

"Make it one."

I sigh and bring up my holo-screen, adding it to my long list.

#3,458 Think twice to prevent second thoughts.

Batman reads it over my shoulder. "That's not exactly what I said."

"I know that, I took my poetic license to make it more interesting. I did that actually to most of these."

Batman frowns, not sure if I'm insulting him or not. And just for the record, I'm not. Sometimes what he says is so boring, that I can't help it.

"That one's an oxymoron," I say. "English is so weird."

"Hang on, ballroom dancing? We can't get Batman to go to regular parties, but parties with ballroom dancing..." Green Arrow says.

I shrug. "Meh, they're okay. Of course Batman—"

"Say one more thing, and I'll talk to Agent A about this."

This makes me pale. Alfred raised Bruce and he took a huge part in raising me. He doesn't deal with impetuous behavior of any kind. Bad guys think the Bat is scary, but they've never seen Alfred mad like when I broke a twelfth century, Ming Dynasty vase while running through the manor. That scolding still brings back painful memories.

I zip my lips and grab my cake, sliding it back towards me. Happy that he's shut me up, Batman turns to Superman.

"Did you make the preparations I asked you to?"

Superman blinks at the sudden change of topic. "Of course, we've been working on them forever. Everything is up and running."

I tune out their conversation and make jokes at Roy's expense with Wally for a few minutes. Even the Leaguers laugh when we talk about his little feathered hat flying off all the time and ending up in strange places.

I automatically glance at the clock. "Ten-oh-five."

Batman turns from an in depth conversation with Martian Manhunter over the mental psychiatry of criminals. He nods at me and we both stand.

"Thanks, everyone," I say, a huge smile on my face. "This was awesome."

"Aww," Kara says, "you didn't even get to open presents."

I wince again. "That's quite alright." Honestly, I'm pretty rich so I can buy whatever I want any time. I hate trying to pretend to be thankful when somebody gets me something expensive, thinking I'll like it. Especially because I know my friends don't get payed very well to be superheroes.

"At least open mine!" Wally says, throwing his gift towards me like a frisbee. I catch it easily and look at the Flash symbol stamped wrapping paper and frown. Wally might have a better idea of what I would want, but still.

"We have to leave now. Thank you for celebrating with us," Batman says to everyone, totally straight-faced. He doesn't seem all that celebratory.

"Uh, you're welcome?" Superman looks totally blown away from getting a thank you from the Bat.

"We'll see you in a few months, Robin!" Kara calls to me.

I wave from the door and Batman and I sweep out of the room.

As we walk to the zeta tubes to head home, I look over at Batman.

"Why are they going to see me in a few months?"

We enter the zeta beam and in a flash of light, we're back at the Cave.

"Ah." Batman removed his cowl, becoming Bruce Wayne. He shuts off the zeta tubes so no one can surprise us.

I take off my mask for what feels like the first time that day. I crinkle my face to get rid of the feeling the mask leaves. It's almost like a muscle memory thing, similar to how you still feel like your jumping even after getting off a trampoline. The skin around my eyes feels raw and tender without my mask. I blink my blue eyes at Bruce. I'm now Dick Grayson.

"Answer me."

"What the heck was that?" Bruce says angrily. "You can't talk about our other lives in front of them, Dick!"

"They can't make connections with all those disjointed ideas," I defend.

"I'm beginning to wonder if you're doing it on purpose. Are you doing it on purpose, Dick? Just for fun?"

I look down, kicking my steel-toed boot agains the metal walkways that suspends us over the trickling water at the Cave floor. "I am just doing it for fun."

Bruce sighs, running a hand through his hair. "I know...it's just, you're embarrassing me."

I look at the stalagmites. "I'm sorry. I didn't think it bothered you this much."

Bruce puts a heavy hand on my shoulder. "It's okay. I don't like Kiki either. In fact, Bruce Wayne and her plan to get to get into a fight tonight. She doesn't want to deal with his kid and he won't leave his son."

I smile up at him. "Thanks." Then I smirk. "Does this mean I don't have to make a speech?"

Bruce's smirk matches mine. "We'll see about that." He starts taking off his gloves. "Now go get ready." He pauses at the exit, holding his side.

"Will you be alright?" I say, frowning. "Maybe you should have Alfred look at that."

"I'm fine," he growls. "I've had worse." He gets in the elevator that will take him into the Manor. "Your outfit is in your room."

I nod and watch as the door closes and my mentor disappears.

I unhook my cape and take off my gloves putting them next to the Bat-computer. I put Wally's present beside them. I'm taking off my utility belt when it occurs to me.

I swear out loud in my original language, Romani.

Bruce managed to avoid my question. "Why are they going to see me in a few months?"

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So favorite, like, follow me, and please REVIEW! Suggestions for inspiration help as well of course. I'm also considering doing something new. Hunter x Hunter...maybe Magi. Just something I'm thinking about.

Until the next chapter...

*youwishyouwerethiscool


	2. Chapter 2

And so here is the fabulous second chapter. Something looms on the horizon. Are you ready?

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The next time I can confront him is when we're in the limo headed to the city civic center where the event will be held. And of course by then he's being a pain in the butt, pretending to not recollect the conversation at all.

"I don't remember Kara saying anything like that," he says, looking out the window.

"Yes you do," I say angrily. "She said, 'We'll see you in a few months.' What was she talking about?"

"How am I suppose to know the mind of a teenage girl? What did Wally get you?"

He's avoiding it again through redirection. "Robin pajamas." That was his own little joke. Robin merchandise has apparently been pretty popular recently. "And a new book. It's another book from the memoirs of an unknown superhero." That's the actual gift. Wally knew I was reading it.

"That's nice," Bruce says, feigning absentmindedness when I know his huge brain is filing everything I say away.

"What was she talking about?" I say, my voice lowering into a growl.

Bruce sighs. "I was going to tell you tomorrow. It is your birthday, after all."

"Bruce..."

"Very well." He turns to look at me full on. "You know the planet Tamaran, right?"

"Yes..." It's an alien planet that Earth is on friendly terms with. I was actually learning Tamaranean from Batman.

"They're having some trouble. An interplanetary war, actually. And the League is needed to act as a neutral third party in their diplomatic discussions."

"So you're all going?" I say in shock. And leave Earth without all its most powerful heroes? That's sounded too risky.

"Just myself, Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter. Flash, Green Arrow, and the rest of the League will be remaining here to handle any challenges Earth faces."

"What about Gotham," I say.

Bruce folds his hands on his lap. "I've temporarily arranged for Green Arrow and Flash to handle our patrols of the city. All the villains are locked up in Arkham or Bellreve, however, so I'm not expecting too much trouble."

I look down at my hands. "So you don't think I could handle it?"

"On the contrary, I do. But I have something else tasked for you. Alfred will be going to England to visit family. With no one at the manor, you will be staying at the newly repaired Hall of Justice."

I raise an eyebrow at that. "And school?"

"I believe you have an extended vacation in December."

That was true. Gotham Academy let out early for winter break due to the fact that all the rich families took extended vacations and cruises over the holidays.

"Not to mention, we are expecting snowstorms to be moving in."

"So I'll be at the Hall all alone?"

Bruce shakes his head. "No, you will be staying there with the other sidekicks. It will function as a home for you, and also as a base of operations." He takes a deep breath. "I've set up a team, you see. After the job you kids did saving the entire League and villains alike, I can see the benefits of having you all train together. So you will all live, work, and get to know one each other. It's good practice for if you all want to join the Justice League later in life."

I nod at this. "See, now was that so hard to tell me?"

Bruce's eyes flicker and I get the intention that he's withholding something. But I've gotten all I wanted out of him so far. I'm about to ask, when the limo stops.

"Master Bruce, we have arrived," Alfred says formally from the front, where he's been listening.

"Thank you Alfred." Bruce opens the door and gets out of the car. I slide across the seat and get out myself.

We're both dressed finely in expensive tailored suits. We smile and wave at the reporters who snap photos of us.

"Brucey!" A high pitched voice that can shatter glass calls out. Kiki Lane struts in her high heels towards us and latches on to Bruce's arm.

"Hello, my dear," Bruce says in his honeyed voice. "You remember my son, Richard?"

"How do you do, m'am," I say in a perfectly polite voice, giving her a thousand watt smile. Cameras click and flash.

Kiki looks down at me, smiling weakly. She's not good with kids. "Hello, Richard. Isn't it a little past your bedtime?"

I laugh off her uncouth comment, the perfect gentleman. "Perhaps, but it is my birthday, after all. It's a special night."

Kiki's eyes widen as she realizes her error. How she forgot she was attending a party in my honor is beyond me. "Oh, my mistake. Happy birthday."

"Thank you, m'am." I bow my head slightly to her, still with that perfect smile plastered on my face.

"Let's go inside before you get a chill, my dear," Bruce says, guiding us both through the doors. It's a little chilly for a spring night.

We enter the main foyer, where a trodden down red carpet lies under our feet. A dance floor opens up with multiple levels overlooking the central floor. Pristine, gaudy white columns frame the floor and a large looping gold and diamond chandelier hangs from the ceiling. The room is full of the dull murmurs of the crowd and its a collage of colorful ladies' dresses combined with the stark black and white of gentlemen's suits. Every rich and important person in Gotham is gathered here tonight for an auction where the proceeds will go to some nameless charity. But the event also doubles as a celebration of my birthday.

Politicians and cops come up to us, undistinguishable in their matching suits. They greet Bruce with a big smile, wish me a happy birthday. Some hand me cards or presents and wink at me, claiming they knew exactly what I wanted. I smile back at them and graciously take everything they hand me.

We maneuver through the crowd to our table. Little cards with our names on it mark the seats as ours. Richard Grayson-Wayne. That's my name now. Bruce officially adopted me a month back. I still haven't gotten used to it though.

Kiki sits down on Bruce's other side, looking bored, as she drapes her fluffy fake fur coat over the back of her chair. I put all my presents beside my seat. Bruce is eyeing them with suspicion (he's one of those parents who X-rays Halloween candy). He won't let me open them until he checks them over.

I glance over to read the other name cards. Usually, since Bruce is one of the richest people on the planet and the richest in Gotham, we have to sit with the mayor and his family. I do a double-take when I read the one next to me. Barbara Gordon. I look up at Bruce, smiling incredulously. Babs usually avoids these types of events like the plague.

Bruce smirks. "Happy birthday."

I grin and look at the other name. Commissioner Gordon. I've met the Commish before as Robin, and once as Richard. He's a pretty nice guy, though he's older than Bruce by a good ten years or so. He's an outspoken supporter of Batman and Robin and he helped Bruce get through his parents' deaths.

Kiki's telling a story about how some woman was totally rude to her at some fancy restaurant. Bruce is listening with a distracted look on his face.

Bored, I pull out my phone, tapping it like any teenager. What I'm actually doing on my phone probably isn't like any normal teenager. I'm going through the police scanner, seeing if there's any emergencies that Batman or Robin might need to help with.

I hear footsteps walking up behind me. I'm a trained superhero, so of course I recognize the gait as Barbara and her dad. I quickly turn my phone to a social media site and pretend to be oblivious to the world.

"Dick!"

I mime jumping in surprise and turn to look at my friend. "Barbara! What are you doing here?"

"Mr. Wayne insisted I come," she says. "Said it wouldn't be a party without me."

I hold in a self satisfied grin. "You look great." And she does. She's wearing a dark blue dress with her red hair done up in a fancy way. She doesn't where any jewelry other than a simple chain that adorns her throat. It was her mother's.

"How are you doing, Dick?" Commissioner Gordon asks me. He has a large mustache and smiles lines around his mouth. His graying hair is combed and neat. He's wearing a collared shirt under his long brown police duster. "Bruce."

The two men shake hands as Barbara plops down next to me.

"Thank you for coming," Bruce says sincerely. His playboy smirk disappears for a second, replaced by an honest smile. "It means the world to Dick. We've been busy all day, and it's nice to see some kind faces."

"Anything, my boy, anything," the Commissioner says. He's always called Bruce that for some reason. Perhaps because he knew Bruce as a child.

"Yeah, thanks," I say, my carefully crafted polite tone giving way to my manner of speaking reserved only for when I'm Robin. I feel Bruce shift at the change next to me. I've slipped. "You both are always welcome at any of our events." I try to cover my mistake slightly, but I don't put that much effort into it. There's something about Barbara that makes me just lose my head. I feel my mask slipping when I'm around her.

I've noticed Bruce is more sincere to the Gordons than he ever is to anyone. Batman or otherwise. They see more of us than the people who claim to know us best.

Kiki clears her throat, drawing the attention back to her. "Brucey, aren't you going to introduce me?"

And just like that, both our smirks snap into place. Bruce leans to the side, one arm on the chair's back. "This is my date, Kiki Lane."

I casually call over a waiter and place our orders, practically oozing confidence and sarcasm. I easily lean back and check my phone as the introductions take place.

Fourteen people liked my photo...seven friend requests...and a text from Wally.

 **You open my present yet?**

 **I roll my eyes and respond. Yeah thanks for the stupid pajamas. And the book.**

 **You're welcome! I was going to get you Flash pajamas but figured it would be creepy.**

 **Good call.**

 **Where are you now?**

 **Check your TV. It's probably being broadcasted now.**

 **Dude! You're at that huge charity thingy? Awesome!**

 **Eh, it's pretty boring.**

 **What, didn't have a date?**

 **No...not really.**

 **Not really? Oh man, you are totally with a chick right now, aren't you?**

 **No details.**

 **No way! I just saw a shot of you sitting next to a red! And she is HOT!**

 **Hey, I saw her first—**

"Dick, what're you doing?" Barbara asks with mild curiosity.

"Nothing, just texting," I say quickly, turning off my phone. I really hope she didn't see any of that. Especially that last part.

The rest of the night continues as these things usually go. We make speeches (ugh), everyone sings me happy birthday, and the food comes around and everyone digs in. I learn that Kiki's social skills don't translate to eating soup, because she slurps loudly the whole time, if not for any other reason than to bring attention to herself.

After dinner (at ten thirty at night no less), we get more cake (seriously, I just might hurl) and the music starts off. Kiki drags Bruce onto the dance floor and I see an expression on his face that says he's going to dump her any minute now.

I make polite conversation with the Commissioner before his cell rings and he excuses himself.

I'm nervous, all of a sudden. Barbara is sitting with her chin propped up by a hand, watching the dancers swirl across the floor. I should ask her to dance. But what if she rejects the idea? What would I do?

Come, get it together, Grayson. You've done this before.

True, but in those instances the girls were practically jumping at any chance they got to dancing with me, giving me simpering smiles and always fixing their hair. Babs isn't like that though.

I stare at my interwoven fingers. I can ask her to dance. I can do this. Maybe I should wait until the next song...no what if there is no next song! Then we would have sat here the whole time and I would have missed my chance—

"Dick, you want to dance?" Barbara asks, looking at me sideways. Her green eyes are like little earths with green plush fields...

"Uh, yeah..." I stand and lead her onto the dance floor.

Once we start dancing, I've recovered myself somewhat, leading the waltz. Barbara seems to be enjoying herself immensely as we spin around and around. She's about three inches taller than me, but doesn't seem to mind. (Bruce keeps saying I'll have a growth-spurt one day, but I've all but given up).

As we dance, I hear photographers around the rim of the dance floor try to snap a photo of us. I match their angle and get in the way or get other people in the way so that they can't get Barbara in the shot. One reporter, we come extremely close to, but I manage to get my head to block Barbara's as he snaps a photo. He swears angrily as I flash him a smile.

I spot the camera that's filming this live and grin at it. Wally must be going crazy seeing me dancing with Babs. I know he'll want to learn all about her and what might and might not be going on as soon as I see him again.

We sit down again after a few minutes. Kiki's gone and is sitting at another table beside an extremely rich politician. Bruce gives me a small half smile. He makes a few bids as the auction begins before Commissioner Gordan comes back to the table. He has a grim look on his face.

"What's wrong, Dad?" Barbara asks.

"Set of burglaries are happening. The GPD thought they could handle it until it turns out the thieves are those cat girls."

"Catwoman and Catgirl?" I ask with mild interest.

"Yeah." The Commish runs his hand through his graying hair. "So I have to go summon the Batman."

"But Dad," Barbara says, "why can't somebody else?"

Gordon looks at his daughter. "They're all afraid of him. Even with that kid he runs around with now. They give the excuse that he should go through the correct authorities, but honestly, they're afraid."

"Should we be afraid of the Batman?" Bruce asks, with just the right amount of concern.

"He is pretty scary after all," I say in my best scared kid voice.

Gordon ruffles my perfectly gelled hair. I smooth it back into place as he says, "Of course, not, kiddo. Batman is on our side."

I give him a huge grin and flicker my eyes to Bruce. Bruce ignores me, playing with his wine glass.

"I'm really, sorry, Bruce," Gordon says apologetically. "And Dick, I'd hate to miss your birthday."

"It's fine, we were going to be leaving soon ourselves anyways," Bruce says, snapping out of his reverie. "Tomorrow we have to wake up early. We're going to be vacationing for a month in December in Europe and I've got preparations to make. Reservations fills up fast, you know?"

I feel Babs glaring at me angrily since I didn't tell her. I can't meet her eyes.

"Come on, Barbara, let's go," the Commissioner says.

Barbara stands. I help her with her coat. "Bye, Dick. Happy birthday." She gives me a quick hug. I feel my face heat up. She pulls away and gives me another wave as she heads out with her dad.

Bruce places a hand on my shoulder. He gives me a look. "You like her, don't you?"

I scowl at him. "Don't try to give me advice. Please."

Bruce holds his hands in the air. "Fine. Are you ready to go?"

A smile suddenly lights up my face. "Always."

A few minutes later, we're both fully dressed in costume and are jumping over the rooftops in Gotham. I love this part. I let loose, doing a few flips between fire escapes. I land on my hands and launch into a series of cartwheels before flinging myself off the building. I shoot my grappling gun and let it pull me up to the next building. I use a little more momentum then necessary so I can do two flips and a roll before getting back to my feet, never breaking stride.

Batman turns his head to me. "Enjoying yourself?"

I cackle. "Race you!"

I run ahead, using my grappling gun and making it pull me towards rooftops at breakneck speeds. I use my acrobatic knowledge to lengthen my stride and expand my velocity to its full most.

I get to the top of the Gotham City Police Department building. The Commish is already standing there, the bat signal blaring into the night sky, casting Batman's emblem on the overhead clouds. Gordon's not alone, I can see another person sitting beside the door to the steps.

I do a flip so I'm right behind him. "I beat you!"

Commissioner Gordon jumps and spins around, gun drawn.

"Whoa there, don't shoot," I say, and cackle.

Gordon lowers his weapon. "Robin. Who'd you beat?"

"Batman." I say, clasping my hands behind my back and tapping my foot. It's hard to stay still in the night air.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Batman says, stepping out of the shadows behind Gordon.

Gordon spin around again in surprise as I point my finger at the Bat. "Don't just walk out of there like you've been here the whole time! I totally beat you."

Batman remains unmoving. "Prove it."

I pout, crossing my arms and sigh. "Fine whatever."

Batman turns to Gordon. "What is it?" His voice is like a rumbling car engine. It's lower than a growl.

"Not that we don't already know, of course," I say, smirking. "Catwoman is robbing that place downtown. And you need our help."

Gordon sighs, his breath making a little cloud as it crystallizes in the night air. "If you already knew what I wanted, why'd you come here?"

Batman doesn't answer so I do. "You bothered to come all the way out here. Might as well meet you halfway."

"Oh wow," a small voice comes from behind us. I look over my shoulder at the other person who I saw earlier. Barbara steps out, eyes wide as she takes in me and Batman.

"Uh, this is my daughter, Barbara," Gordon says, gesturing for her to come to him. She does. "She wanted to come and meet you. I'm guessing she's a little older than Robin," he says. He gives Batman a look, wanting his guess to be either confirmed or denied.

I grin and put one hand on my hip. "Well, it's nice to meet you Ms. Gordon."

Batman says nothing, just inclines his head slightly. He looks at me. "We should go now."

I nod to him and wave to the Gordons. "Nice meeting you, Barbara! See yah, Commish!"

Batman and I both turn and launch ourselves off the building. We disappear into the night.

"What, no hello?" Catwoman teases the Bat as they fight on the rooftop. "I haven't seen you in a while."

Batman throws a half hearted punch at her. "I know. You've been lying low since the incident last year."

I'm sitting on top of a gargoyle, not even caring that at my back is a two hundred foot drop. My balance is perfect, so it's not like I'm going to fall anyways.

Catgirl sits on the ground in a little safer position with her short dark hair blowing in the wind. She has her arms crossed and is watching our mentors fight. The bag of jewels lay forgotten on the floor.

She turns her masked face to look up at me. "When you said they have a thing, I didn't really believe you. But it's hard to ignore now that the evidence is all up in my face."

I shrug, putting my elbow in my knee and using my hand to prop my face up. "They're just having some fun. It doesn't bother me. Catwoman's pretty cool anyways."

Catgirl stares at me. "Robin, I haven't seen you in forever. How can you be so nonchalant about this? Isn't it weird? How...back to normal everything is?"

"No." I say. "It's nice. Not weird. Kitrina, I—"

"Don't say my name, Robin!" She says hurriedly.

I scoff. "I doubt anyone's listening right now. Batman would be putting in a better show if he thought someone was watching or listening. Nah, we're fine."

"Still. I don't know your name, and it's awkward when you say mine and I don't know yours," she rambles.

I look down at her. "Call me Robin. It's as much as my real name as any."

She meets me gaze. "Fine then, Robin. How is everyone? Did everything workout? No one on this side of the law knows what happened. Who captured us, who defeated them, what their purpose was, who let us go—"

"Well, it's sort of a long story. I kinda did most of those things. With others helping," I add quickly. "And it was Sharp, his sister and Hunter and Raina as long with most of the lower level criminals in Gotham who were behind it."

Her eyes widen. "Seriously? You...them...we... And Sharp? I thought he was on our side."

"Nope. He was a spy. Sent to watch out for me. Too bad I figured him out, otherwise they might have succeeded." I shiver at the thought. Everyone might have been dead.

"What about Raven? Is she okay?"

I nod. "The League took her in after I convinced Batman to convince them. All I know is she's being trained to fight in the field. She sort of helped me defeat those guys, so they owed her one."

"So she's a hero." Kitrina looks at the ground. "Lucky her."

"My offer still stands." Despite what Kitrina said, we have seen each other since the incident. And I offered for her to become a hero. A sidekick to a League member, like Black Canary or something.

Catgirl stares at her mentor and fingers the whip at her hip. "No. I can't just leave Selina. She's like an older sister to me, you know?"

I nod, expecting this. "Maybe Catwoman and Catgirl will one day give up being jewelry thieves for good," I say.

Kitrina laughs. "No, it's too much of a thrill. Looks like they're wrapping up. Bye, Robin." She stands.

Catwoman and Batman finish their little fight in each other's arms. They're both smiling, even the Bat.

"Next time," Selina Kyle says, "don't make me have to rob a jewelry store to get to see you."

"Okay," Batman says, all suave.

Catwoman pecks him on the lips before pulling away. "Come on, Kitty." She gestures to Kitrina. They both run to the closest fire escape and use their whips to swing away.

Batman looks after her longingly. I sidle up beside him. "So," I say. "You like her, don't you?"

Batman's mouth twists as he looks down at me. "Touché."

I cackle. I pick up the bag of jewels. "We should probably return this."

"Yes. And then get home. It's late."

I groan. "Seriously, I'm not even tired."

"Consider this as payback for earlier then," Batman says as he walks away.

I hang my head and follow. Serves me right for thinking I was going to get away with that.

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Sigh... Batman X Catwoman forever.

So please REVIEW and make sure you favorite, follow, and like. But REVIEW because it inspires me. I'm thinking new chapter every Friday? Yeah...that sounds good.

*youwishyouwerethiscool


	3. Chapter 3

Hello! I got an email saying someone had like my story and I remembered...I was writing a story! I do believe that if I received a large amount of reviews, I would most assuredly post more...

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3

When I wake up, the house is quiet. It would be poetic if there was a robin singing outside my window, but it's like ten degrees and snowing, so that's not going to happen.

It's been eight months since I last saw the other sidekicks. Today's the day I meet the team.

I head downstairs. Bruce isn't up yet, he's not a morning person. Alfred however looks as if he has been up for hours. He gestures for me to sit down before placing a bunch of eggs and a bagel in front of me, along with my usual vitamin and protein shake. I swallow both of them quickly before digging into the real food.

"I know what you are thinking, Master Richard." Alfred places a stack of folded clothes right on the kitchen table. "Master Bruce had the headquarters for your little team supplied with all your usual meals. You will also have full access to all the technology and League files while they are away."

I pump my fist. "Awesome."

"I took the liberty of ironing some of your best clothes. It was also brought to my attention that you do not possess much...informal wear, so I bought several pairs of jeans and...'t-shirts' as well."

I grin at him. "Thanks Alfred. You're the best."

"Right you are, sir," Alfred says, clearing my plate. "Now go finish packing. And wake up Master Bruce, would you? It's bad for him to sleep in until he skips breakfast."

I get up and grab the pile of clean clothes. I take the stairs two at a time and bang on Bruce's door a few times. I wait until I hear him groan before continuing on my way to my room.

I throw everything into a black leather suitcase. I stare at the brand label, suddenly aware of how expensive this thing is. Man, this is going to be harder than I thought, living with people who don't know who I am. I'm going to have to keep up a constant persona of Robin. No rich boy slip ups.

I can't do anything about the brand label though. I'll just have to hope the others aren't as observant as me.

Bruce knocks on the door. I can tell its him from the grunts. He doesn't like to wake up early. The League can expect an extra grumpy Batman today.

"It's open," I say, rolling my eyes. Honestly, it's not like it locks.

"Hey, Dick. Are you ready to leave?" He looks bleary eyed around the room. If the villains of Gotham knew how totally out of it he was in the mornings, they would plan all their attacks at eight a.m. instead of midnight.

"Yeah. I think I got everything." Extra supplies for by utility belt, my pajamas, some back up Robin costumes, my clean clothes from Alfred.

"Okay, well, good. Got your masks?"

"Yep." We agreed that I would wear a mask twenty-four/seven. Not even taking it off at night. And if we had to go civilian, I would don a pair of designer shades (again, I can't help that they're designer. I live with a billionaire).

"Good." He rubs his stubbly chin. "Get dressed. I'll meet you down in the Cave in ten minutes."

"Twelve," I say automatically, correcting his rough calculations.

Bruce chuckles. "Okay, twelve."

I'm in full Robin gear as I wait down in the Bat-cave. The bats are quiet now that it's daytime. I'm careful not to make any noises because they make a real racket when they're startled.

I hear the faint rustling of a cape behind me. I turn. "Twelve minutes. Told yah."

Bruce, wearing his full Batman gear, sans cowl, places a hand on my head and messes up my hair. "Fine, you were right. Let's get this show on the road."

"I sincerely hope you weren't both planning to leave without saying goodbye," a British accent says from behind us.

Both the Bat and I jump. Alfred's the only one who can sneak up on us. He's an ex-MI5 agent after all. And he raised Batman and me on top of it. It's not surprising that he can sneak past us.

I smile and hug Alfred. "Bye. I hope you have fun visiting your relatives."

"Of course, Master Richard." Alfred smiles warmly down at me. "And you know where I am. If any problems arise, you know how to contact me."

I nod as it suddenly sets in just how alone I'll be.

Alfred turns to Bruce and it's an almost surreal moment watching Batman hug the older man. Of course, he has his cowl down, which makes it a littler less weird, but not enough.

"I forbid you from doing anything stupid, Master Bruce," Alfred says in a firm voice, glaring at Bruce. "Don't think just because your gallanting around in space with superheroes means you can risk you neck. I expect you to come back in one piece, no missing limbs."

Bruce chuckles. "I'll try."

Alfred smiles at us both. Bruce pulls up his cowl while I fix my mask into place. "Be good, both of you. I shall see you in a month's time."

Batman types in the coordinates for the Hall and the zeta tubes light up. We both wave to Alfred as we disappear in a flash of light.

I blink as my eyes adjust. The room we've appeared in smells new and it seems immaculate. It's a combined kitchen and sitting room. The furniture is new and unused and the kitchen appliances gleam with that new just-bought sheen. A hallway disappears down one wall and the other wall opens up to a type of atrium that I sort of recognize from my last time here. Back when this was a penitentiary overrun with bad guys. But now everything is clean and well-lit. I see that most of the extra hallways that would have led to cells have been closed off. Several zeta tubes circle the atrium instead. Probably used for mass transit.

"I've already sent you a full blueprint of the layout of the HQ. From here on out, this team will use the Hall of Justice strictly for their base of operations and temporary living quarters." He kneels down in front of me. "And I do mean temporary, Robin. I will come back."

I bite my lip, feeling the loneliness settling in my stomach like a nest of bees. "I...I know. It's just...I've never been away from..." From people I love for so long. Not since my parents...

"I know," Batman says in his rough voice. He sounds sad and angry, probably with himself. "I wish I didn't have to go. But it'll be over quicker than we know. And you'll get back to being sick of seeing me and Alfred all the time again." He chuckles.

I look down, feeling tears in my eyes but fighting them back. "I just hope I can do it. Be Robin this whole time."

"R—Dick. You are Robin. Let your own personality shine through the mask. You won't be anymore Richard than you will be any less Robin. Okay? And you'll have Wally, who you can talk to. And if you ever need help, you have Commissioner Gordon and Barbara. Don't try to just be a superhero all the time. Sometimes, just be yourself."

"Last time...you know...last time, when you were gone and I was sort of in charge. I started to act like you."

Batman laughs like this is the funniest thing he's heard yet. "You are like me, Robin. But you're also you. And I believe you can handle this. I have faith in you, son." He places his gloved hands on my shoulders.

I nod and take a deep breath. "I'll...I'll try, Tati."

Bruce nods, ruffles my hair, and is all at once is on his feet once more. Just in time for the zeta tubes to light up and for the others to arrive. Batman must have gotten us here early so we could say our goodbyes without our identities getting in the way.

I recognize most of them, of course. Superman with Supergirl, Aquaman and Aqualad, Green Arrow and Speedy. And then there is Raven, followed by Martian Manhunter who guides a young girl behind him. Then, striding in after them, are...two Green Lanterns?

I blink and look over at Batman. "You didn't inform me that there were others."

Batman smirks. "Didn't I? Must have not asked the right questions.

The zeta tube flashes again and out shoots two blurs. The bright red Flash followed by his nephew, the yellow Kid Flash. They both race in, out of breath. "Sorry, we're late," Flash says. "Any food around here?"

I can tell Batman is rolling his eyes. "Say your goodbyes now. There's plenty time for eating after we're gone. Robin will show you."

They seem to notice us for the first time. Honestly, we weren't even trying to hide.

"Bats!" Green Arrow says, walking over, a huge grin on his face. "Long time no see!"

Batman makes no gesture to greet him whatsoever. He turns to me. We stare at each other, communicating silently.

Be careful. I'll be back in a month.

You too. And make sure you do.

And with that, Batman sweeps out of the room, the zeta tube beaming him up to the Watchtower.

Superman glides across the floor. After all, why walk ten feet when you can fly? He looks over at the tube Batman just disappeared in before placing a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, for his sake, Robin. He didn't have to be rude to you like that."

I shrug off his hand. "I'm not bothered." I make my way over to the computers. "You guys should get going. Intergalactic space traveling takes some time."

"Oh, I get it. So he's the buzz kill you guys were talking about," the younger Green Lanterns says. He looks to be about the same age as Kaldur, making him sixteen or seventeen.

"Buzz kill?" the girl Martian Manhunter wannabe asks. She seems to be about the same year.

I ignore them, typing on the computer screen (even though I am totally not a buzz kill). Wow, this place as all the top notch Wayne tech. Holographic touch screen, voice activated cameras, lasers that transmit micro-signals...

I look over my shoulder at the others as they say goodbye. Kara is crying into Superman's shoulder, getting his cape covered in snot. King Orin and Aqualad do a very formal handshake before Aquaman leaves immediately. Raven stands awkwardly off to the side, watching them.

The Green Lanterns and Martian Manhunter and the girl walk over. The smaller Green Lantern is in the unmistakable Green Lantern Corps uniform. Skin tight, green and black. He has short brown hair from what I can tell, with the tips dyed blonde. He's fit, though I bet he relies more on his ring than he should. The girl is a little more...strange. She has green skin and auburn hair. She's wearing a uniform similar to Martian Manhunter's, but it's comprised of a white t-shirt with a red X across it, a short cape, blue gloves and boots, and a blue mini skirt of all things. I roll my eyes under my mask. Good God.

Hal Jordan introduces GL junior. "This is Kyle Rayner. He's...new. He's working with me at the moment, but I think it's best if he stays here and learns how to work with others. As a team." He gives Kyle a stern look.

"This is my niece, M'gann M'orzz," Martian Manhunter says. "She is going by the earth name Megan Morse. She takes the superhero identity Miss Martian."

"Miss Martian, huh?" I frown. She's shy. Hesitant, tentative. Not good for split second decisions. I look at Martian Manhunter. He sighs, seeing my face.

"I believe this team will be good for her. She is still...quite new to Earth."

I grind my teeth and look over at Hal. "And your little buddy? Is he what, Kid Lantern? Greenhorn Lantern?" I barely keep the smile off my face with that one. Greenhorn...

"Haha, no, just Green Lantern." Hal rubs the back of his neck.

I study Kyle. His posture is proud and self-righteous. Thinks he's always right and won't take directions well. A lot like Hal Jordan then. He looks down his nose at me. "Who you calling little, kid?"

I sigh and put my hands on my hip. Here we go again. "I'm Robin."

Kyle chokes on his own spit. "You're Robin?" He looks around at the others who have been watching with amusement. "I thought by the way you guys were talking about him he would at least be...older..."

I might just crack a tooth, my jaw's so tense.

"He just had a birthday," Wally points out helpfully.

The computer behind me lights up with an incoming transmission. The older Justice League members gather around but are unsure how to answer. I push Flash out of the way and tap at the keyboard.

Batman's face appears on the camera. He looks pissed. "Any reason why you all are still down there?"

Superman looks like a scolded child. "Just saying goodbye."

"It's been ten minutes. Robin, how is the atmospheric interference with the signal?"

"Minimal," I say. Then I smile slightly. "But the camera angle isn't great. I can see up your nose."

This causes Batman's nostrils to flare, only emphasizing my point. "I see you've met the rest of your team."

Something makes me pause at the way he said that. "Batman...who exactly is the team leader? Aqualad I'm assuming—"

"No. Aqualad agreed with us when we decided you would be leader of this team, Robin."

I feel my mouth fall open slightly. My fists clench.

"You didn't tell him?" The older Green Lantern says nervously.

"No. I waited until I was far enough away to do so. I calculated the thermosphere as being a safe distance."

"LOL, Bats," I say, glaring at him. "Hilarious. Honestly, you better watch out, or you might say something actually funny one day."

"Sorry. I was worried you would react negatively. Please, do not destroy anything. Superman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern. We are awaiting your arrival. Unless you would like Robin to take his wrath out on you?"

The senior Leaguers glance at me nervously. "No, we'll be right up, Batman."

Batman raises a hand to cut the transmission. "Goodbye, Robin. Don't die. Or I will kill you."

"Same," I say, sighing. I'm the first to cut the transmission. I stare at the blank screen, willing my hands to uncurl. That would have been a nice tidbit to have learned a while back. He can't just dump all that responsibility on me like that!

"Rob, dude," Wally is suddenly next to me. "You alright, man? I mean, you're not going to like, kill us or something? Because I swear, it was all Kaldur!"

"Do not blame this on me, my friend," Kaldur says, frowning.

"Why don't you kids go get your rooms and unpack. Batman said he had them assigned. Girls are one wing, boys the other. No fighting!" Flash calls as everyone immediately runs off to go find their rooms.

Kyle lags behind. He looks at his mentor incredulously. "You guys are scared of him?" He nods his head none to subtly in my direction. "He's just a little kid."

Superman and Green Lantern exchange looks. Superman shrugs. "I guess he'll learn the hard way then."

Green Lantern sighs. "Goodbye, Kyle. Have fun. Work hard."

Kyle snorts. "Nice. Just like you, right?"

GL shoots him a look. Superman waves goodbye before they both disappear in a flash of light.

Martian Manhunter lingers as he watches Kara lead M'gann to where their rooms are. Raven follows behind slowly.

"I'm truly sorry, Robin. I can tell this assignment bothers you greatly," he says. "And me adding my niece to the team, even though she has no experience...it does not make it any easier for you, I know."

I run a hand through my hair. "It's okay, J'onn. It...just caught me off guard. I should have seen it coming though. Batman...likes to surprise me. He enjoys catching me off guard."

"Indeed. Well, stay safe, my young friend. And watch out for my niece, please."

I nod. "Of course. Stay safe. You may be on a diplomatic mission, but still..."

"Yes. We will be safe." Martian Manhunter's red eyes meet mine and I feel a chill run through me as he measures up my nervousness and suppressed anxiety. "Don't feel like you have to hide everything. Strength is often found in the truth as much as in deception."

I crack a smile. "I know. Rule 2,835."

The Martian chuckles. "Goodbye." He steps into the zeta tubes and disappears.

All at once, I'm alone in the atrium. I feel my heartbeat speed up and my stomach clench. I breath through my nose to calm myself. Honestly, I can do this. Everyone has faith in me...I can't let them down.

I grab my suitcase I ditched next to the zeta tube when we came in and head down the boy's wing. I glance at the signs and stop immediately. ROBIN is engraved clearly on the first door on the right. Naturally, I would get assigned here, where I would be the first to know if something bad were to happen. I tug a glove off with my teeth and press my hand to the scanner. The door slides open. I frown. I'll have to enhance that security system. That's much too easy.

I look around the room, dragging my suitcase in and tossing my discarded glove onto the bed. It's simple and plain and neat. Perfect. Just the way I want it to stay. I quickly put all my clothes away. I decide to change out of my uniform. There's no point in having it on right now. And I might as well get comfortable being half civilian all the time. I choose a Gotham Academy sweatshirt (yeah, I know, not helping me) and a pair of dark jeans. My mask, of course, stays on.

I set up my laptop on the desk. I made it myself, and I'm pretty proud of it. It's also is the most secure thing I own. Nothing can hack it, I made sure of that.

I spread out the blanket and pillow I brought from the mansion and sigh. It looks a little homelier now.

I hear quick knocking. I sigh again. "I'm coming, Wally."

I take out the picture of my parents and put it on the nightstand. It's compromising evidence, but it's...too important. Still, I put a pseudo-photo in front of it of some random person off the internet. That should keep the others in check. I do the same to the photo I have of me, Alfred, and Bruce.

More knocking. Scowling, I walk over to the door and pull it open. "I said I was coming, didn't I?"

Wally looks taken aback. "Sorry, Rob. Didn't hear you."

I sigh. Note to self, walls in rooms are sound proof. So much for being alerted to danger immediately. Still, it's nice knowing I wouldn't be eavesdropped on, especially with Supergirl's powers. Hmm, I wonder if they're lead lined too?

"Come on, dude, you have to show me the kitchen. And did you see that Martian girl? Holy—"

"Yeah, yeah," I smile at my best friend's antics.

Wally changed out of his uniform too and is wearing a green turtleneck. He keeps tapping his arm, his foot, twitching his shoulders and head. Man, ADHD on top of super speed. That must suck for his uncle and aunt.

Wally looks irritated that I'm not running towards the kitchen. But he stays at a normal pace for my sake.

We enter the kitchen/living area. The doorway that leads to the atrium with the zeta tubes is closed off, making the room feel smaller.

Everyone is already gathered, not talking. They've all changed out of their uniforms as well. Raven wears a huge purple jacket with the hood pulled up instead of her regular cloak. She's slumped at the kitchen island. Kaldur is sitting up straight in a popular brand shirt with oddly colored slacks. Roy of course looks bored and has his too-cool leather jacket on and a red v-neck shirt underneath. Kara is smiling awkwardly like she wants to say something but can't figure out what. She's wearing a red shirt and blue skinny jeans, her blonde hair tied back. Kyle changed into his obviously favorite color, green, and is staring at the ceiling. M'gann is the only one still in uniform and looks like she'd rather be anywhere but there.

I look them over. "Wow, you guys are depressing. I see everyone stuck with their color scheme then?"

Wally laughs, his mind and eyes quickly seeing what I did. "True, true. Props for us for being original, man." He runs into the kitchen and starts piling things up to make a sandwich, already right at home.

The door to the atrium opens and Flash and Green Arrow walk in. They take one look around the room and exchange glances.

Flash, now with cowl down, revealing himself as Barry Allen, speeds over to the refrigerator. He starts grabbing supplies to make his own sandwich. I wince at the thought of the size of the budget for food that household must use.

Green Arrow leans against the wall. His mask is gone but he still has the little Robin Hood hat on. "So...ice breakers anyone?"

I resist a groan and sit down at the kitchen counter next to Raven. She gives me a funny look but doesn't say anything.

"Hey, Rob, you want anything?" Wally asks, piling his sandwich to its fifth layer.

"Nah, I just had breakfast." I've learned by now that if you want something to eat, don't ask a speedster to do it. They don't care about flavor as much as calories.

"If you're sure..." Wally demolishes his sandwich in record time. I turn away so I don't see the slaughter fest.

Green Arrow looks sick. "Right...well, I think we should at least get to know each other. Names, basic powers or abilities, stuff like that." He looks around. No one looks eager. "Okay, right, I'll start. My name is Oliver Queen, I'm Green Arrow. I'm an archer. I'm also incredibly handsome," he grins at that.

"And my favorite color is green, like half the people in this room," I say, in a pretty good impersonation of his voice.

GA glares at me. "Right."

Flash jumps in. "So I'm Flash, Barry Allen, fastest man alive. I work as a forensic scientist for Star Labs."

Kara leans forward, happy to have something to talk about. "I'm Supergirl, but you can all call me Kara. I have heat vision, super strength...uh, basically all the same things as Superman."

She looks pointedly at Kaldur who sighs. "I am Kaldur'am, Aqualad. You may call me Kaldur if you wish. I have hydro-kinesis, the power to control water, on top of the other powers that Aquaman has."

"I'm Wally West, fastest boy alive," Wally says, his mouth still full of food.

Speedy cuts him off before anything falls out. "I'm Roy, or Speedy. I'm a better archer than GA."

I notice Oliver doesn't argue.

"I'm Raven. Though you can call me Rachel," Raven says in her bored drawl. She sighs and lowers her hood. She looks the same as the last time I saw her face. Pale skin, her hair cut into a tight purple bob. A small diamond in between her eyebrows like a bindi. "I have telepathy and telekinesis. And my powers manifest in the shape of, wow, a raven." She does a little sarcastic jazz hands thing and rolls her eyes.

"I'm Kyle, the other Green Lantern." He holds out his ring like a newly engaged girl. "I can create anything I want in my imagination. I'm also completely fearless, because, you know, for Green Lanterns, fear is the enemy."

I hide a small smirk. Good to know.

"I...am...M'gann. Uh, no, Miss Martian. I mean Megan. I'm pretty new to Earth..." Her green face flushes which is an odd sight to see. "So I'm sorry if I don't know any of your customs. I have basic shape shifting, uh, telepathy, I can make stuff fly...um, that's telekinesis, right? I can go through things too, density shifting, I think it is in English..."

"So you're like an alien version of Rachel?" Kyle says.

I frown at that. I bet if their introductions had been switched, he would have pointed out that Raven was the one copying M'gann. But because of the order, he ended up insulting the one person on the team who is unsure of themselves.

"Uh, Kyle..." Oliver starts.

"In a way I suppose," I say, letting only a little bit of my anger show through. "But I bet she can still kick your butt."

Kyle glares at me. "Okay, then, little birdie. Your turn."

I lean back, letting a bored expression settle on my face. "I'm Robin. Partner to Batman. I'm trained in a majority of combat disciplines, technical knowledge, languages, detective work, etcetera, etcetera."

"No real name?" Rachel asks me, an eyebrow raised.

"'Tis forbidden," I say, shrugging.

"You're going to wear a mask the whole time? Sucks man," Roy states.

"Well, Barry and I are going to get some supplies from the Watchtower the Bat wanted us to set up in the gym. You kids should...attempt to get something to eat before meeting us there. Then you'll have your first big training session together." Barry and Oliver leave the room, walking towards the atrium.

I look over my shoulder. "Hey Wally, could you—"

"Grab the thing out of the fridge that says 'Robin' on it?" He tossed me the wrapped parcel.

I catch it. "Thanks." I move over to the long kitchen table and sit down.

Wally joins me, going through a huge bag of chips. "Dude,"he whispers, glancing at the others, "don't think you've gotten out of telling me about that chick you were dancing with. I want all the details."

I roll my eyes. "Not going to happen. The last thing I need is you stalking her and trying to pull her out from under me."

I see the look in his eye and realize what I just said, "It's a figure of speech, Wally!"

"Sure..."

Kaldur and Roy sit down. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Robin's lady birdie," Wally says, suggestively wiggling his eyebrows.

Roy chokes on his food and Kaldur smiles slightly.

"Well, I think it's great Robin has a girlfriend. See, Wallace, if you don't pester every girl you meet, you might have one too." Kara sits down on Kaldur's other side. "Oh, here, Megan, sit next to me."

M'gann does, blushing at being invited to sit. She's carrying an odd meal in her hand. I'm guessing it's Martian. Rachel quickly sits down at her side. She's holding just a small salad. I make a mental note to go over everyone's eating habits to ensure they can stand up to training.

I notice that only leaves one seat open next to me (everyone chose seats farthest from me, huh?) and Kyle sits down with a disgruntled sigh.

I open my parcel and a delicious smell wafts out. My mouth starts to water. It seems Alfred made one last meal for me. Beef stroganoff by the smell of it.

Wally takes a sniff and moans. "Duude...that would happen to be...?"

I smirk. "Yeah. Here," I cut it in half and he takes it eagerly.

"I don't know why you want to continue to feed the bottomless pit," Rachel says in disgust.

Wally points his fork at her. "You don't understand. This is homemade! Robin's food is the best!"

"Robin bakes?" Kaldur asks.

"Heck no," Wally laughs. "It's one of the few things our Boy Wonder can't do."

I feel my face flush. "It's not my fault. I was never taught."

Roy pauses in eating his hamburger. "Wait...you mean Batman can't cook either?" For some reason, they all find this hilarious.

M'gann looks confused. "Why is this funny?"

"Thank you, M'gann," I say with a sigh. "They just like to think they're funny when they're not."

"Oh..." She frowns and pokes at the thing on her plate that looks like orange ice cream. "Humans are so odd."

Kaldur smiles. "Indeed. But do not worry, Megan. You will get used to it. Follow these simple rules: never take what they say literally, always use 'like' instead of 'said', and use excessive hand gestures. I find that works for fitting in."

M'gann blinks at him. "But you are an Earthling, are you not? Surely, you fit in fine?"

"Kaldur is an Atlantean, from the underwater city of Atlantis," Kara says. "He has a very different set of customs so when he came up here, he had to learn how we operate." She smiles widely. "You know, I'm actually an alien too."

M'gann blinks at her, taking her in. "You...are?"

"Please, you crashed here when you were a baby," Roy says with a small smile. "You were raised practically just like everyone else on Earth."

Kara blushes at getting called out.

M'gann looks at Kaldur. "English is a confusing language. On Mars, we do not have different tones to express different meanings. We use mental connections to express such things."

Kaldur smiles kindly. "Yes, I had such a thing in Atlantean too that is similar in English. And there are some sounds that I cannot even make above water because air does not allow me to do so."

M'gann seems to be brightening now that she has found something in common with someone. "English was very hard to learn. They have many words that mean the same thing, and many words that do not follow their complex grammatical rules."

I snort. "Tell me about it. English sucks."

"Hey," Roy says, "don't go dissing your own native language."

"English is not my native language," I say, curling my lip.

Everyone is silent at that, staring at me. I sip my drink not really caring. Good luck trying to glisten anything out of that cryptic response.

"So...you are an alien?" M'gann asks.

There's silence and then I burst out laughing. My cackle echoes off the walls.

"Holy crap, dude," Wally says, whacking me. "You know that laugh creeps us out."

I punch him back harder before looking at M'gann. "No, there are many different languages spoken on Earth. English is merely a common language for everyone to know." I lean back before something occurs to me. "Hey, mind if I try something?"

M'gann stares at me. "Uh..."

I let loose my Martian language knowledge. It's pretty complex, since it doesn't stem from anything we have on Earth. Not to mention, they don't have words for everything we have. It involves lots of tongue clicking too, similar to that one African language I had to learn.

M'gann looks shocked and then for the first time, a smile lights up her face. She leans forward and responds eagerly.

"Uh..." I shrug. "Sorry, I'm not very far into it yet."

M'gann shakes her head. "Oh, it's fine. You're the first Earthling I met who tried to talk in my own language to me."

"Dude!" Wally stares at me. "You know Martian?"

I take a bite of my lunch. "I just started. Since I finished Tamaranean, I needed another one to learn. I know Atlantean as well," I say to Kaldur, "and you're right, the speech patterns are hard to do. I still can make that sound...the one that sounds like a dolphin..."

Kaldur smiles and makes a high pitched chirp.

"Whoa," Roy jumps at the sound.

I point my fork at Kaldur. "That's the one."

"So you're like some kind of robot," Kyle asks. "Just like Batman."

I freeze and give him a cold look. "Just like Batman, huh? Well, you're right...Batman is a robot."

Kyle looks caught off guard. But it's Wally who comments. "I knew it!"

"Robin," Kaldur says, "I don't think you should joke of such things."

I raise my eyebrows. "But Kaldur, I'm not joking. I'm serious. Why do you think Batman and I always wear our utility belts? It's where we store our batteries." I hear someone enter the room behind us. I smile, recognizing the footsteps.

"Aha!" Wally throws his hands in the air. "And Agent A built you right? He's actually a crazy genius!"

"Right," I say grinning at my best friend. "And the Batcave is where we go to recharge. Off bat guano."

Wally and I burst into laughter. Kyle's surprised expression instantly drops when he realizes we were kidding this whole time. Kaldur shakes his head at us. The girls look confused. Roy rolls his eyes and takes another bite from his hamburger.

With a little encouragement, we all finally get up, change into some workout clothes, and head to the gym, myself leading the way. I try not to think about the labyrinth of prison cells this place use to be. It makes me paranoid. I intently study all the security cameras we pass as we walk, making sure they're all at the right angles to cover any blind spots. A year ago, practically every villain in the country was in here. Excuse me for double checking.

I open the door to the gym and step inside, looking around. Impressive.

Batman went all out on this place. It's got similar stuff to what's in our training area in the Bat-cave. The floor is completely covered in a blue mat, with extra ones stacked against a wall. A track encompasses the entire place, appearing to be a good quarter mile in length. There's a swimming pool, a trampoline, some tumbling gear, obstacle courses, an archery range, weights, hoops in the air for the fliers, an enhanced treadmill for Wally, an electronic sparring mat, and...

A trapeze and gymnastics equipment. Parallel bars, high bar, balance beam, a pommel horse, still rings, vault, uneven bars, tightrope...I'm blown away by how much the Bat put into this. He really wanted me to feel at home.

Kaldur elbows me. "If we spar, let us not go anywhere but the mats, agreed?"

I grin, remembering the time I tricked him and got him stuck up on the tightrope. Kara had to rescue him. "Agreed. And sorry about that, again."

Kaldur holds up his hands. "All is forgotten. And I will show just how forgotten it is when we finally have a fair fight." His grin could match a shark.

I laugh, which draws Oliver and Barry's attention to us. "There you guys are."

Barry zips over to us. "Hey, Supergirl, mind giving us a hand? Superman brought these weights in, but..." He shrugs sheepishly.

"Sure." She walks over and easily lifts the one thousand pound weight that the two older heroes had been struggling with. She sets it off to the side. "Was that all?"

Oliver looks a little disgruntled. "Yeah. Fine. Okay. So, we're going to start your first little team training. All of you," he smiles, "versus Black Canary, myself, and Flash."

"Black Canary isn't here," Roy points out.

I point at the ceiling. "She's up there."

BC, aka, Dinah Lance drops from the rafters. She's wearing her customary tights and leather ensemble, her golden hair pooling at her shoulders, making all of us wonder how she possibly could be Oliver's longtime girlfriend.

"How'd you know I was up there?" Black Canary asks me, hands on hips. Her combat boots make slight clicking sounds as she walks towards us.

"Easy," I say, "I noticed upon entering that the ceiling was set up with multiple horizontal bars running across the top, perfect for someone to hide in. I saw your hair. It sort of stands out in the dark. Not to mention I heard you try to sneak past us when we were eating."

"You must be Robin," she says, smiling. I like how she doesn't add, "Partner to Batman" at the end like most people do, like I only exist because of that connection. Which in a way is true, but it's still frustrating.

I nod. "Dinah Lance. Nice to meet you."

Black Canary looks surprised and glances back at Oliver who shrugs. "He's got us all pinned, Dinah."

"Okay." She studies the way I'm standing, the confident way I talk, the slight smirk on my lips. "Robin should sit this one out."

Now I frown. "Uh, why?"

"I want this to be a team exercise. And I feel like you don't really know how to pull that off yet." The way she says it makes it clear that she's the one who thinks that, not Flash or GA.

I frown and think about what she said. She doesn't think I could work with this team, at least not yet. I look around at them. I'm no stranger to working with people. Batman and I are called the Dynamic Duo for a reason. But he and I have a type of connection that allows us to know what the other is doing and know what we should do in return. I've worked with Kara, Kaldur, Wally, Roy, and even Raven before. But M'gann and Kyle are new and I don't know how they would all work together. It might be better if I do sit this one out. "Okay," I say.

The older heroes seem to take a big breath of relief that I didn't argue before calling the others over to the center mat. A large blue holo-screen pops up in front of Black Canary as she types in the conditions of the match. "We'll fight for five minutes tops, powers are allowed. Last team standing wins. When you hit the mat, you're done."

They all nod in agreement and take up positions. Wally, I can already see, is pinning to go at his uncle. Roy's arrow is drawn and pointed right at Green Arrow who's arrow is pointed at him in return. Already at a standoff and the match hasn't even started. I resist rolling my eyes.

The timer starts and the launch into action. The speedsters become a blur as Flash takes off with Wally quickly chasing after him. Roy and GA are still frozen, arrows pointed. Kaldur, Kara, and Kyle go for Black Canary. M'gann hovers uncertainly, since no one told her what to do. Raven tries to help by waving her hands and making a dark blob of something hit GA, sending his arrow shooting way off target. Roy takes the chance to come at him again, but now closer so they're fighting hand-to-hand. Raven tries to help Wally next but manages to just trip both of them up and they're both sent crashing into the ground. A few seconds later, Kara hits the mat. She obviously held back despite Black Canary telling her to use powers. And she payed the price.

Roy and Green Arrow are going at it, matching each other fist to fist and kick to kick. Roy may be the better archer but his combat is still lacking. Green Arrow seems to have the upper hand. Roy manages to notch an arrow but Oliver knocks his bow with a hit and the arrow flies wide, going straight for Rachel. She holds up her hands, trying to stop it but panics and send a black pulse outwards, knocking the two archers to the ground. The arrow hits her anyways and she falls out of the air.

Now the only ones left in the game are M'gann (who still looks lost), and then Kaldur, Kyle, and Black Canary who are showing their skills off.

I knew Kaldur was good, after all, he did train in the Atlantean equivalent of a military for most of his life. He uses his water bearers, not holding back after what happened to Kara. He has twin water blades now and he's swinging them at BC for all he's worth.

Kyle's not holding back either. I've got to give him some credit, he's good. Using a Green Lantern rings takes creativity. He's using a large hammer, taking control of the close quarters, and is trying to lurer BC into the glowing green bird cage he created. I wonder how he would fair without the ring, however.

Black Canary seems to get that too, so she targets his ring hand. She manages to knock him to his knees and then steps on his hand with her boot. Not enough to break anything, but enough to do some damage. He howls in pain and rolls onto his back. Just like that, he's out.

Kaldur puts up a good fight, but in the end, Black Canary pulls the one ace up her sleeve and lets loose a piercing shriek.

Kaldur's water swords dissolve as he covers his ears. The sound rattles everyone's ear drums, and even when she stops, I have a ringing in my head that won't go away. Kaldur, who bore the brunt of the blow, stumbles and falls.

Black Canary simply turns to M'gann and makes like she's going to come at her, and the younger girl starts and let's out a little shriek as she falls.

"WINNER: BLACK CANARY," the overhead robotic women's voice says. It sends chills up my spine. I still remember when it was announcing the League members being sent after us last year.

I start clapping, smiling at BC. "That was...impressive."

Black Canary smiles. "Batman said you would only need a preliminary assessment to see where the team stands."

I nod looking around at them. Everyone is groaning, getting to their feet. M'gann looks suitably embarrassed. "I feel like you all have a lot of promise. Wally, don't be lured into a fight so easily. Same for you Roy. Just because you guys have a bone to pick or whatever, doesn't mean that you should just throw yourselves into the fray with little regard for the others. Especially against someone who you know you're evenly matched against. Rachel...how much control do you have over your powers?"

"Usually, I've got no problem controlling them," she says sheepishly. "I don't know, I guess I just panicked."

I nod. "You're not use to using them under stressful situations. Your powers rely on your meditative abilities. Any time you get stressed out you loose control. You'll have to keep an even head even in difficult situations."

"How'd you know—"

"Kyle, you rely on your ring too much. Without it, you're powerless."

He doesn't like that. "Like you, twerp?"

Roy growls at him. "And like me too you little piece of—"

"Yeah, like me," I say in a bored voice. "But I've had the proper training so I don't seem as powerless. You seem to have the whole ring thing down pretty well. Just avoid yellow, right?" I crack a smile.

He stares at me. "You little—"

"Kaldur, that was great. Very nice footwork. You should work more extensively with Black Canary, I think she'd help you a lot."

Kaldur bows his head, smiling. "Thank you, Robin."

"Kara, don't hold back. I know you're afraid of squishing all us little people," she blushes at my words, "but trust me, we've got training. We can handle a little super strength. Always practice like its for real."

She nods, looking serious.

"And M'gann..." I turn to her and she wilts away from me. "That was very good for your first combative situation. Try to stand up for yourself though. Don't allow yourself to be so easily frightened."

M'gann looks down, but doesn't nod. "Easy for you to say. You are not someone with many fears."

Wally chuckles. "Yeah, tell me about it. This is the little guy who scares grown men on Halloween."

"No," M'gann says, having misread Wally's comment. "That is not what I meant. I did not mean he is the fear others have. Indeed, I can sense what you all fear. For instance, Wally, you fear your father. And so does Rachel."

Both mentioned parties visibly wince. Everyone is frozen, even the adult heroes. The young Martian continues.

"Kaldur fears disappointing Aquaman. Roy fears the future. Kara fears change. Kyle fears having his ring taken away. Flash fears losing his speed. Green Arrow fears being alone. And Black Canary is afraid for us and what we will become."

Silence is so thick that I can't even breath as M'gann looks at me. "Those are their main ones, on top of basic human fears, like of of the dark, or spiders. But you don't fear anything so trivial. I have trouble reading your mind, but I did catch a glimpse when we first walked in and you saw the trapeze. You fear losing everything. Again."

Phew. That was long. And intense. Review to show me your excitement about Robin's lovely new team. I wonder what might happen next ;) *youwishyouwerethiscool 


	4. Chapter 4

here is the long awaited update. i hope it satisfies your Robin urges ;)

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4

I lean my head against the cool tiled wall as I shower in my room. This whole thing is a nightmare.

Black Canary pulled M'gann aside and attempted to explain to the young Martian why it is so wrong to intrude on others minds and then tell everyone their thoughts. M'gann was seriously upset she had done something wrong and apologized continuously to us through her tears.

But that didn't erase,what she did.

I let the steaming water run over me. Everyone cleared out of the gym and I did my regular workout routine like at home in the Cave. Three hours later, I called it a day and went to go shower.

I've been I here for an hour now, and the others probably think I drowned. But I don't care. To have your worst fears, fears that you keep from even yourself, blurted out like common knowledge really threw me off. My hands are still shaking, and it's not just from my workout.

I turn off the water and dry off. "This is crazy," I mutter to myself. Christmas is right around the corner. Only my sixth one since my parents' death. Batman is gone, Alfred is gone, I'm all alone with people who don't know squat about me, except Wally.

I pull on my pajamas and crawl into bed. I don't care if I miss dinner. I can't sit there and pretend nothing happened. That nothing changed. I pull my blankets up to my neck. I can't help it. "Bruce..." I whisper into the dark.

I feel a tear slip down my face, sliding horizontally since I'm lying on my side. It pools under my head, making my cheek feel wet.

I suddenly feel so alone and small that I'm shaking. If I fall asleep, nightmares will come.

My cell phone suddenly vibrates and I jump. I look over and pick it up, quickly clearing my throat. "Hello?"

"Dick? Oh so, you can answer your phone. What the heck, I've been trying to call you all day!"

Barbara's voice kindles something warm inside me and I begin to get some feeling back. "Sorry. I've been busy."

"Yeah, no kidding. I saw your posts about skiing in the Alps. How's Europe?"

That's right. Bruce and I set it up so that photoshopped pictures of ourselves would appear on various social media websites over the next month. After all, celebrities never truly disappear in this day of age. Today must be skiing in the Alps. "It's fine. I've met a lot of new people. From a lot of different places."

"That's cool. My dad's been going cra-zy over here. Batman had that big Justice League thing in space, and all the villains are taking advantage of it. Flash and that green Robin Hood have been going all over the place trying to stop them. It's insane. My dads been working late a lot, so I've been staying at a friend's house in Metropolis. Didn't know cities could be this clean."

I laugh. "Superman runs a tight shift, huh?"

"Yeah. But there's no place like Gotham. Every place has it problems, you know? I guess Gotham just has a few more."

I laugh darkly at that. Yeah, a few more. "Well, I'm glad you're safe."

"Yeah, same." She pauses. "Are you okay?"

I freeze, thinking I let something show through in my voice. "Why?"

"Dunno. I just thought, going back to Europe...last time you were in Europe was with your parents, right?"

I lean back on my bed and rub my face with my other hand. That's right, Barbara knows Richard Grayson. And Richard's backstory is no secret to anyone. "Yeah. It's hard, I guess. I miss them. Today, this girl made this comment that...I guess it just stung. It reminded me that they weren't here."

Barbara's silent for a little while. "I get it. Well, she sounds like a total ditz."

"Nah, she's okay. I just don't think she knew she said the wrong thing. She did apologize though."

"See, there you go. It's all good." Barbara's clearly smiling. "Don't forget, Dick, we're here for you too. Me and Bruce and Alfred. We may not be your birth family, but I think we rock, if I do say so myself."

I smile for the first time that night. "Thanks Babs. It was really nice talking to you. I felt like I just needed a friendly voice."

"No problem. Keep me updated. I miss you."

The last few words seem to slip out in a way that makes me hesitate, like I imagined them. "I...I miss you too."

I hear Barbara give a little breathy laugh. "Why, Richard, stop you'll make me blush."

That makes me blush. "You know that dreams of me will haunt you tonight."

Barbara laughs. "Of course. Night, Dick."

"Night, Babs," I say.

She hangs up and I sit there for a second, smiling. I place the phone on the bedside table and slap on a mask. Rolling onto my side, I fall into a nightmare-less sleep.

The next morning, I wake up and get out of bed, feeling a lot better, and a butt load more positive. Poor M'gann, I now feel really bad for acting the way I did towards her. After brushing my hair and changing into some acceptable clothes, I head out of my room with a mind to set things right.

I sort of slept in. What can I say, I'm not a morning person. Bats are nocturnal, after all. I either sleep in or don't sleep at all. Maybe that should be a Batman rule.

I head out, my head held high, feeling extremely optimistic.

And then, rounding the corner into the kitchen-living area, I hear, "It's Richard Grayson!"

Crap, crap, crap, crap...

"Wow, I can't believe it."

"He's so hot."

Hold up... I look around and see everyone is positioned in front of the television.

Kara is clapping her hands like a fan girl. "I mean just look at him!"

Oh...they're watching an interview I shot a week ago.

I'm on the screen being interviewed by Cider Penn who looks far too cheerful for an early Saturday morning. I'm wearing my personally made designer sweater that accentuates my blue eyes and pleated dress pants. My black hair is carefully gelled and tousled to give me a snarky devil-may-care look. I've got my confident playboy-in-training smirk on my face. If I had come across that kid on the screen, I probably would've slapped him for what ever he was smiling for.

"Isn't he cute, Megan?"

"Cute? Like a baby?"

"No. Come on, he's only a few years younger than us. And he's a genius. And he's rich."

I feel my face flush red as I start making myself some breakfast (more like a late brunch) as loudly as I can, hoping to drown out what they're saying. Wally hears me banging things together and is by my side in record time.

"Dude!" He hisses at me. "Why do you get all the chicks? What is this?"

I shake my head. "It's not me they're fawning over." I nod towards the TV. "It's him."

Wally gives me a look. "Still, I think we could use something like this to our benefit. You should introduce me to them. Or no—wait! You have a girlfriend now, have her introduce me to all her smokin' friends."

I shove him. "No way."

"Come on, man. You've got to help a brother out." Wally gives me his best pouting face but it just makes me roll my eyes.

"I said no. Now leave me alone before I show you the chokehold I've been practicing."

Wally's gone in a puff of air.

"Why is he so important?" Kaldur asks, frowning. "He is just a child."

"A child who was voted most eligible bachelor under eighteen twice." Roy sighs. "Why can't that be me? I'm pretty famous."

Kyle gives him a look. "You? Famous? I've never heard of you outside of Speedy."

Roy tuts. "You wouldn't, Green Bean. But Oliver Queen is the richest man in Star City. And I'm his adopted son. I've actually met this kid before. He's a real snob."

"Don't say that, Roy," Kara reprimands. "He's so sweet. I mean...just look at him."

"My people believe looks are superficial," M'gann says, surprisingly forcefully.

I frown at the TV as I continue to watch myself be interviewed. It's so odd. Being here and there at the same time. It's almost like my two personalities have been split down the middle. I study me team as they watch TV. I realize Rachel isn't here with us. She must like sleeping in even more than I do.

"How does it feel to be officially a Wayne, Richard?" Cider says, tilting her head on screen like she's interested in my answer.

"Well, you know, I've always felt like a Wayne," I say on screen, a cocky smile highlighting my features.

The interview suddenly freezes and cut to a close up of Cider and her co-host on some celebrity talk show. I chew the inside of my cheek. This is why I hate prerecording these things. The reporters can twist them however they want.

"Recent allegations have said that Richard Grayson might in fact be Bruce Wayne's blood son." Cider raises an eyebrow at the camera. A frozen photo of me with that stupid smile appears over her shoulder. "Could Richard have been alluding to this during our recent interview? What do you think, Mike?"

Mike puts his hands on the desk. "Well, Cider, let's look at the facts. Bruce Wayne is pretty notorious for getting around. Richard's mother was a circus gypsy, a very beautiful woman. And then, if we look at Richard and Bruce, they do look awfully similar. Blue eyes, dark hair..."

"True," Cider turns back to the camera. "Some higher ups have been demanding Wayne and Grayson undergo a DNA test to settle any controversy. Wayne Enterprises refused to comment. But, let's face it, why else would Bruce Wayne adopt a circus kid? If not that he felt he owed some responsibility to his own son."

"Next up, we'll talk about Mary Grayson and her past. Could she have been a secret Wayne lover?"

"And we'll also see more—"

The rest of whatever Cider was saying is cut off when the TV gives its last sparks of life before dying. A bird-a-rang is imbedded in the middle of the screen.

Kara looks over at me, annoyed. "Robin! What the heck! I was watching that!"

I swear, I hadn't meant to throw it. But those people...sitting there and dragging the names of myself and everyone I care about through the mud...I wish they had been real instead of just on screen. I would have died to see Cider's face when she got knocked out by my throwing star. "Sorry," I say, not really meaning it. "TV rots your brain anyways."

Roy and the others start complaining loudly about how they're going to be so bored without the TV. Kaldur just looks amused and grateful. M'gann looks confused.

Only Wally is looking at me with a look of understanding.

"I thought you would be upset, Walls," Roy says to the other redhead. "After all, you brought your new gaming system and everything."

Wally leans back. "Nah, it's cool. Rob's right, it does melt your brain. Though next time, he could turn it off instead of destroying it." He gives me a look.

I wince. Okay, I may have overreacted just a tad. But I was mad. I turn away from them and get out my protein shake. I can still hear them talking though. It's not like sticking my head inside the refrigerator puts me in another dimension.

Kyle, however, doesn't seem to be able to make that distinction. "What the heck? That dude has problems."

"That 'dude' has very acute hearing," I say, without turning around. I gulp down my protein shake and sigh. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the gym."

Kaldur gets to his feet. "We might as well all get some training in. After all, there is nothing else to do."

Kyle groans. "Training is too easy."

I cock an eyebrow. "It's not suppose to be. Would you like to try my training routine?"

Kyle stares at me. I know I'm wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants so I must not look like anything other than a scrawny kid to him. "Sure, why not? I can handle it."

Kara hovers to her feet. "Great! I think we could all benefit from a tough training session."

"What about little Miss Doom and Gloom?" Roy says. "She's still asleep."

"I'll get her," I say. "For now, you guys go change into something you can sweat in. I'll be right there."

I head down the girls' wing and knock on the door that says "Raven" on it. "Hey, Rachel? You there?"

"Come in," a voice says.

I open the door and look around.

It's dark in here with dark draperies and black light. Rachel is wearing the same outfit from yesterday and is floating in the center of the room in a meditative position.

"What are you doing?"

"Meditating." She opens her eyes and looks at me. "Like you said, I need to work on controlling my powers. So I've been doing extra meditation."

I sit down across from her and cross my legs like she did so the soles of my feet are facing up. "I know your past," I say solemnly.

She looks at me sharply.

"As a rule, a leader has to know everything about their team. Things that make them happy, sad, get under their skin..." I look up. "I know your dad is some type of demon."

For the first time, Raven doesn't look angry or abrasive. She just looks sad. "I get it. That's why. You're going to tell me not to use my powers anymore because I might be dangerous."

"Just the opposite." I offer her a small smile. "You need to continue to learn control over your abilities so that you will never lose control."

"But the League...you know, that's why they turned me down before...because they found out about my parents. They said they didn't have anyway to help me. So they kicked me out onto the streets."

"That was wrong," I say softly.

She gives a laugh with no feeling. "Easy for you to say. You're a legacy."

"A legacy?"

"Yeah. A child of a superhero. Just like Flash and Kid Flash. And Supergirl and Superman. You guys will eventually grow up and replace the greatest heroes in the world. And me...I'm nobody. I'm just some girl with raven powers."

I cackle. "You're wrong."

"What—"

"Well, you're only half right. Flash may be Wally's uncle, but they're only related through marriage. And Supergirl is Superman's cousin, not his daughter."

"But still. You and Batman—"

"Look, Rachel," I say. "We may grow up to replace our mentors. And we may not. Wally dreams of replacing the Flash one day. But in their family, it is more of a hereditary title. And Supergirl loves Superman, but I don't think Superman will ever be replaced. I think we have to figure out how long Khryptonians live first. And Kaldur serves his King, he's not being groomed to replace him. And I know for a fact that Roy does not want to replace Green Arrow. Kyle and Green Lantern are supposed to be equals despite their age. And Miss Martian has a lot to learn before she can come close to matching her uncle. If 'uncle' is the appropriate term to use. Families are complicated on Mars. And Batman and I...well, there's only ever going to be one Batman. I'm planning on finding my own path."

Raven is staring at me, her dark blue eyes sad. "Then who am I?"

"That's the great part," I untangle my legs and stand up. "You can create your own legacy. Nobody will ever look at you and say, 'She's going to be just like her mentor.' Trust me, it's a lot to live up to..." I shake my head. "But you create your own path. And you'll have friends to help you."

Raven looks a little teary eyed, but I pretend not to notice.

"We're going to be doing some intense training in the gym once you're ready," I say offhandedly, moving towards the door. "We'll wait for you."

"Robin...thanks," she says, staring at the floor. "You're pretty smart for a twelve year old."

I grin. Even if in the inside I'm saying, I'm flipping fourteen. "No problem." I open the door and leave the room.

"Can we please take a break," Kyle pants, flopping onto the floor.

"It's only been an hour," I say with a frown. "We're going to get to the hard stuff in a second."

We just finished our ten mile run around the track in the gym and everyone looks exhausted. I don't feel too bad. There's only a faint flush in my cheeks but I'm still going strong. Wally seems hyped up too, but running is sort of his thing. He finished before any of us.

"Yeah, come on Greeny, I thought you said you could 'handle it'?" he teases.

Kyle takes in huge gulps of air. "That...was...insane. How...the heck...is that...a warm up?"

Roy is breathing a little heavily but he seems okay. "It's a meta world out there, dude. Non metas have to compete to stay alive.

Kaldur and Kara had some of their enhanced endurance to help them out, but I can tell that they're tired out too. "Metas?"

"He means super powered people," I explain. "Or people with meta genes that give them power. Even alien DNA contains meta genes."

I look over at our resident Martian. "How you holding up, M'gann?"

Her green face is flushed and sweaty but she looks happy. "Okay. It feels good to actually be doing something to improve. I can feel myself getting stronger." She holds up her arms and flexes and morphs a little at the same time. The result is for a second she looks like she has huge guns. But the illusion quickly ends and she giggles.

"Dang, that was hot," Wally breathes.

I nudge him. "Close your mouth, dude, you'll catch flies."

Rachel finally crosses the end line and walks over to join us. Her usually pale skin is pink and her chest is heaving. "Sorry. I trained mentally for so long, I never did any running like this."

I wave her off. "That's fine. We all need to practice the basics. Some of us more than others." I shoot Kyle a look.

"That's it! I'm sick of this kid." He scrambles to his feet, ring glowing. "He waltzes in and says he's our leader yet we haven't seen him do anything other than run around. I don't care if he's some type of Batman protégée, I'm not taking orders from a kid."

Kaldur takes a step forward. "Kyle, I must ask you to stand down. We have seen Robin in action before. You do not want to get on his bad side."

"Screw that!" Kyle yells. "You guys are all scared of Batman. That's all! How's it feel, punk, to get whatever you want while hiding behind your daddy's cape?"

I feel a tick developing in my jaw. "Look. I didn't ask to be in charge. And if someone was more qualified, I would offer them the job. But I don't have anything to prove."

"Bull. You're nothing. Just a little kid. I could cream you in a second."

In my peripheral vision, I see Wally, Roy, and Kaldur going into big brother mode. And Kara big sister mode I guess. I hold up a hand. "It's okay guys. If Kyle wants to say something, he can say it. And if he wants a fight..." I get into my stance. "He can have one..."

Kyle smiles and holds up his wing. "Bring it on, birdie."

"Show me what you got, Green Bean."

The others back off and we have the mat.

"I hardly think it's fair," I say with a pretend pout, "that you get your ring and here I am with no weapons to defend myself."

"Fine." Kyle takes off his ring and tosses it to Kaldur who automatically catches it. "We'll do some single combat. And just a fair warning, Hal's been teaching me some tricks. And he's in the Air Force."

"Fair warning, I've been taught by the Batman," I smirk, unimpressed. It was sure easy to convince him to take off his ring. "Shut up and fight."

Kyle nods and comes at me.

I immediately pick up on his style. He's leading with his left foot, left handed. His arms are positioned close to his chest with his hands near his face. Mild training in boxing or mixed martial arts. His eyes are on my feet, I get the feeling he's trying to figure out my style at the same time. Too bad I can do things he's never seen.

The terrain for this fight is boring. Flat and matted. The mat is soft to cushion falls, but at the same time it makes a great springboard.

Kyle is still moving towards me. But it's like he's moving in slow motion. I grab the hand he's punching out at me with and use its momentum to throw him over my shoulder. But I have to follow him as he falls so I bend backwards, practically bending in half, and kick up with my knee. Kyle grunts as the knee hits him in the stomach and then again when his face crashes into the ground. I follow through with my motion by lifting my feet off the ground and going into a back hand spring with two flips. I land softly and take a bow. "Thank you, thank you."

"Show off," Roy mutters.

Kyle gets to his feet, wiping the blood from his bloody nose. I didn't think a soft impact with the mat would take him out. "I'll admit it, you're fast. But now I know how you work."

"Really?" I grin and slip into a stance. A different stance. "Care to try again then?"

He answers with a grunt and throws a kick at me. I block and throw a punch at his head. He manages to block it with his forearms.

"You've been trained in boxing too?" He says incredulously.

"I've been trained in more things than years you've been alive," I say. This is actually something I've been working on. I've been focusing on creating walls between the different disciplines I've learned. That way, if someone sees one they've recognized, they'll try to guess what I'm going to do, and I'll just change my fighting style. It's purely for fun though, when I'm going up against the big bad guys who mean business, I can't goof around like that. Then I do my regular style of a mixture of all my disciplines with my acrobatics knowhow thrown in.

But this is the perfect time to try it out. Plus, it's good practice. Batman doesn't mess around when he's teaching me and we often go head to head. I'm interested to know what his training is like on someone else.

I mimic Kyle's footwork and mirror his punches. I'm learning from him how to do his moves. In my head, I calculate what he'll do next, now that I know the pattern.

Punch, kick, punch, elbow, head, back, punch, shoulder...

Now that I know what his pattern is, I can combat it.

I block his kick and punch at his elbow as he throws his arm out for a follow up. The next part of his sequence would have been aiming at me with his elbow, but now that I've broken it up, he's lost his rhythm. I move in to finish him off.

I throw two quick punches at his face and he only manages to block one and the hit makes him stagger. I drop down and kick at his foot, make him trip forward and then I rotate my body, throwing my full force upwards and hit him in the chin with my foot as I perform a double backflip from my crouching position.

Kyle's head is thrown backwards and he falls back, landing heavily on the mat, totally out of it.

The voice comes on overhead. "WINNER: ROBIN."

I cross my arms. "How was that for a demonstration?" I walk over and offer him a hand up. He takes it (though he's pretty out of it and probably doesn't realize it's me helping him). "Hey Roy, can you take him to the medical bay? It's on the second door on the left."

"Sure thing, Rob." Roy takes Kyle, wrapping the other boy's arm around his neck to support him. "That was pretty cool, dude."

I shrug and look away. "Anyways, we better get back to work." I don't like how the others are staring at me. Like they're both impressed and afraid.

Wally breaks the silence. "Dude! You went all psycho bird on his sorry butt!"

I laugh a little. "Yeah. Maybe I went too far."

"No..." Kara shakes her head. "He has a hard skull. He seemed to need you to beat it into him."

"That was a fine job, my friend," Kaldur says. And it's his calm, older voice that puts me at ease.

"Thanks, Kal."

M'gann blinks and snaps her mouth shut. She looks at me with a determined look on her face. "Can you teach me to do that?"

I feel my eyes widen. "M'gann, I've been at this for a long time, those techniques take years—"

"Not the techniques. Well, maybe." She amends, "Can you teach me to stand up for myself like that?"

I feel a grin spread over my face. "No problem. You'll be a fierce alien goddess in no time." I shoot the last member of our group a look. "Rachel? You okay?"

She shakes her head ruefully. "I'm sure glad you're on our side, Robin. That's all."

I cackle. "Come on then. Let's get back to work."

One and a half weeks later, we're all sitting around eating some junk food (well, not me, I've got carrot sticks). Things have sort of settled into a type of rhythm. We get up, train, eat, sleep, get up, train. I can see us improving.

Kyle still has some tape on his nose, but he hasn't harbored any grudges. Kara was right. If anything, I've managed to get him to respect me somewhat. I guess he was one of those cases Bats says needs a "rougher approach".

M'gann has improved the most. She's not afraid of a fight and that, combined with her good heart, make me think she'll make a great hero one day.

Flash and Green Arrow check up on us sometimes, but they're usually kept pretty busy between their real lives and their super lives. Patrolling both Gotham and their home cities must be taking its toll.

Black Canary will pop in every once and again to give us a quick training exercise, though once she brought pizza and a monster movie marathon. My first, I might add.

Other than that, we haven't had a lot of contact with the outside world. No missions. No assignments. We stay underground and train but we don't do anything. No other Leaguers pop in to see how we're doing. Aquaman hasn't even made an appearance to see his sidekick since the day he dropped him off. I asked Kaldur if something was up in Atlantis.

Kaldur got this weird look in his eye. "Yes. My country is at war."

I nearly choked on my carrot sticks. "W-what? Why aren't we doing anything about it?"

"My King is leading his people. He feels like he should be able to solve this problem without the help of air breathers. Similar to how you and the Batman feel about other heroes in Gotham."

I frowned at him. "Who are they at war with? And why aren't you helping them out?"

"You see, my friend, those two questions have related answers."

I studied Kaldur. "I never read files on my friends unless I have to. Unless they don't tell me what's affecting them themselves."

"It doesn't concern you!" Kaldur snapped at me. I remember being shocked. Kaldur was the adult figure. He wasn't suppose to lose his cool.

"I'm sorry," I looked down. What ever is was, it seemed to be really bugging him. I wasn't going to press.

"I ask you, please do not read the files the Batman undeniably has on me." Kaldur couldn't meet my eyes. "And let the matters of Atlantis leave your mind. They will be resolved soon, I believe."

We haven't talked about it since.

So here we are. Sitting here, out of the way. With Batman, I always felt like an equal. A partner. For the first time, I'm beginning to get a taste of what it feels like to be treated like a sidekick. A little kid.

That doesn't mean I have to act like one.

I come in after doing my usual trapeze exercises, using a towel to wipe the sweat off my face. Sit down on the couch, munch some carrot sticks. Man, I'm getting lazy. If Batman could see me now.

I wince internally as Kara flips through the TV channels. Black Canary replaced our TV so we could do our movie marathon. I never watch TV usually (can't say I have the time) but I see why people are so addicted to it. It's like sitting and talking with a person who does all the talking for you while you do the sitting. Sort of like Wally except it runs off electricity, not cupcakes.

Kaldur is sitting on an armchair, peacefully reading a book. Rachel is across from him doing the same. I'm not sure if they're doing a book club or what but they're reading the same novel.

Kyle and Roy have been playing a game of chess for the past hour. M'gann's been watching them dutifully, but I think she's still confused on how the king can only move one space.

Wally's on his stomach in front of the TV, watching the channels zip by as Kara changes them, probably getting more out of it than she is.

I crunch down on my carrot. Maybe I should work on something. That flying spin kick that I haven't quite perfected. Update this place's security. Practicing pole vaulting. Study up on my Martian because I know Bruce is going to test me on that when he gets back.

"Hold up, Kara, go back a few."

I turn at the sound of Wally's voice, confused at his urgency.

"What? This one?"

"No, back one more."

"...on what appears to be an attack by Mr. Freeze on Metropolis."

My head whips around and I quickly flip over the back of the couch to land next to Kara who squeals in surprise. Ignoring her, I grab the remote and turn it up. Everyone looks over, interested in my haste.

"Robin, what—"

"Shh!" I turn it up even more so the reporter's voice is loud in our ears. Kara, with her super hearing, cringes.

"For those of you just joining us, Mr. Freeze attacked the Metropolis City Plaza. Authorities believe he was most likely heading for the bank. He was able to enter the plaza and go unstopped until Green Arrow and the Flash along with Red Tornado showed up at the scene and apprehended him. He is currently being taken back to Arkham Asylum in Gotham City where he had previously escaped. Six people are in the hospital and one was announced dead upon arrival—"

"I can't believe this!" Roy snaps, already on his feet. "A major emergency! And Green Arrow didn't so much as tell me what's going on!"

"—authorities believe that Mr. Freeze was taking advantage of Superman's recent disappearance from Metropolis due to an unspecified Justice League assignment. We will keep you updated as more info—"

Kara looks like she has tears in her eyes. "Metropolis! But...but..."

Rachel looks disgusted. "Who would do something so despicable?"

"Who's Mr. Freeze anyways?" Wally asks.

"He's a Gotham villain," I say darkly. The others look to me in surprise at the venom in my voice. "His wife died of a fatal disease and he takes her death out on all of Gotham. He has to wear a specially insulated suit to survive. He's a psychopath." Suddenly, I remember something. Babs said she was staying with a friend in...Metropolis...

I whip out my phone and speed dial Babs' number. Wally shoots me a confused look. I close my eyes behind my mask. Please pick up, please pick up...

"Richard Grayson?"

I gasp. "Who is this?"

"This is Nancy Wallis of Metropolis Medical Center. I am in the process of calling all of Barbara Gordon's family to alert them to her condition and I saw you were calling on her phone..."

"Is she all right?" I turn away from the others in the room and pray Kara isn't listening in.

"Her condition is stable. She does, however, have a broken arm."

"Is she conscious?" I ask.

There's a pause. "She...regained consciousness a few minutes ago. But..."

"Has she had a blood transfusion?" I say impatiently.

"Yes. She's heavily medicated to help with the pain."

I grind my teeth. "So she's not lucid."

"Correct. Terribly sorry, Mr. Grayson-Wayne."

So this lady knows who I am. No wonder she was reluctant to tell me the details and deny me a conversation.

I run a hand through my hair. "Can you please tell Ms. Gordon to contact me as soon as she feels better. Or before that. I want to know if her condition worsens or improves."

"Yes, sir."

"And I'll handle any medical fees."

"The incident was covered under the Metropolis Villain Enactment."

"Fine. Take care of her."

"We'll do our best, sir. Good bye."

"Bye." I hang up and turn back towards the other heroes.

"Is everything okay, Rob?" Wally asks, immediately next to me.

"Fine," I say. "Someone I know was injured in the attack."

Kara starts to cry. Kaldur stands up. "Is she alright, Robin?"

"She's fine." I make a mental note to make sure the names of the victims never get published in case the others try to find a connection to my identity. "Just great." In frustration, I throw my phone across the room and it shatters against the wall.

"Dude!" Kyle says, taking cover as phone shrapnel scatters.

"Robin, you need to chill out," Roy says, making towards me with hands raised in a peacemaking gesture.

"No, I don't! That was my villain in someone else's city and six people are hospitalized and one is dead because I didn't do my job!" I punch the wall next, driving my hand straight through the plaster.

Wally's eyes widen. "Hey, Rob, dude, let's take it easy before you break anything else."

"It's not your fault!" Kara sobs. "It was mine. Metropolis is my city! I should have been there!"

M'gann places a tentative arm around Kara. "It is alright. It is not your fault. You did not know..."

"She's right!" Kyle pounds his fist in his palm. "It's not your guys' fault. Somebody should have told us. We could have helped. This whole space area's my responsibility yet nobody ever tells me anything!"

Just then, the zeta tubes go off, announcing the arrival of the heroes of the day, Flash, Green Arrow, and Red Tornado.

Flash takes one look at my face, the hole in the wall, Kara's tears, the television still blaring the news, and makes to run away but Wally's voice stops him cold.

"Uncle Barry?"

Barry Allen sighs and turns around.

"Why didn't you get us to help? Why weren't we informed!" Roy screams at his mentor. Red Tornado starts to slowly back away.

"You running, Red?" Oliver snaps at the robot.

Red Tornado stops. "No. I am, however, incrementally backing away from this compromising situation that seems to warn of extreme amounts of mental agitation. I wish you gentlemen the best of luck." A red—well—tornado whooshes to life around him and he disappears through the zeta beams.

Oliver turns helplessly back to his ward. "We handled it."

"Handled it? Handled it! You call THAT handled it?" Roy points at the screen where they're showing a helicopter view of the destroyed building. It's all rubble and dust with an icy haze coating it. "Because of your 'handling' Robin's friend is in the hospital!"

The two older heroes look over at me.

When I speak, it's with the forced calm voice that Batman uses when he's really mad. I must pull it off pretty well because everyone takes a step back. "Look. You may think you know how to take care of situations. And I completely understand being too late for an emergency. I get it. What I don't get it why you didn't call us, a group only fifteen minutes away from Metropolis with two members having experience in the area and experience with the villain, so that you could rush in and save the day after six people were injured and on killed. That's what I don't get. And I want you to explain it to me."

Oliver gulps. "Look, Robin, it's just, you guys haven't done a real mission yet. And you're still young—"

I explode. "WE HAVEN'T DONE A REAL FREAKING MISSION YET BECAUSE YOU BASTARDS HAVE BEEN HOLDING US HERE TO HAVE A GLORIFIED PLAYDATE. AND I MAY BE YOUNG BUT YOU CAN JUST QUIT HOLDING THAT OVER MY HEAD. I HAVE MORE EXPERIENCE THAN SOME MEMBERS OF THE LEAGUE. I'VE GONE TOE TO TOE WITH PSYCHOPATHIC VILLAINS WHO DON'T JUST WANT TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD. THEY WANT EVERYONE TO DIE. AND I'VE FOUGHT THEM AND WON, YOU—" at this place I switch to a string of foreign cuss words including a few in Romani "—I KNOW THE ONLY FACT YOU TREAT ME WITH ANY DEGREE OF RESPECT AT ALL IS BECAUSE YOUR SCARED OF BATMAN. WELL, HERE'S A NEWSFLASH FOR YOU. YOU SHOULDN'T PISS OFF THE BIRD EITHER!" I finish, breathing heavily.

Everyone is staring at me with their mouths open.

I continue, a little more calmly. "I took this job so that no one would have to feel the pain of losing someone they love. Batman took it for the same reason. I'm done playing Little League Superheroes. If you can't respect me as much as you respect Batman, I'm done." I turn and stalk out of the living areas into my room, slamming the door behind me.

I spend the rest of the day staring at my backup phone hoping Babs or Alfred or Bruce or someone will call me and ask me if I'm alright. But eventually my phone runs out of power and I fall asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello again beautiful readers! Here is the undoubtedly much awaited chapter 5! It's about to get a little bit hairy, so try to follow here...

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5

I don't leave my room until well into the afternoon the next day.

The Hall feels slightly empty. I look around, wondering where everyone is. I finally find M'gann in the kitchen.

"Hey, M'gann."

She jumps at the sound of my voice. "Oh, Robin. My apologies, I didn't hear you come in." She seems hesitant and fearful.

"Where is everybody?" I say, gesturing around the empty area.

"Wally and Roy went out with their mentors and Kara has been talking to Black Canary for quite some time. Kyle and Kaldur are sparring in the gym and Rachel has not left her room."

"So what are you doing?" I ask.

She glances down. "I was trying to make pie. Uncle J'onn says that humans enjoy pie. And it makes them happy. I do not want anyone to be sad anymore."

I try to catch her eye but she's avoiding me. "Are you alight?"

She flinches at my voice. Dang, she's scared of me. "Y-yes."

"M'gann. Look at me."

She looks up, lip quivering.

I give her a small smile. "I'm okay. I'm sorry I yelled yesterday. I didn't mean to scare you."

Immediately, she smiles. "Apology accepted, Robin. I am glad you are feeling better now. But I still have to make the pie so the others feel better as well."

I smile wider. "Okay. Be careful with the oven. It's heat and all." A Martian's weakness.

She frowns. "Oh. Then maybe we will have a cold ice cream and cheese pie."

I wince. "Uh, okay. Sounds...yummy." What it sounds like is Bruce's attempt at baking. "Good luck on that."

She waves at me as I go towards the gym.

Kaldur and Kyle are in the middle of a heated match. Recently, they started sparring since they were a similar age and height. Kaldur has been teaching him some Atlantean fighting styles to use.

Kyle jumps over Kaldur's sweeping foot but is caught by a fist and hits the mat. "WINNER: AQUALAD."

The two laugh and Kaldur helps him up. "One more round, my friend?"

"Hey guys," I interrupt.

They both jump and turn to face me. "Robin. You are up."

Kyle gives me an easy grin. "For a little guy, you've got a set of pipes on you. I'm pretty sure you blew the whole secret base thing because everyone in Star City heard that rant."

I cross my arms. "Yeah. Sorry."

Kaldur shakes his head. "No need to apologize. You said what we were all thinking."

"They treat us like civilians instead of heroes. We deserve more. Haven't we proven enough already?"

"Yeah..." I scratch my face. "So I decided to do something about that. Have everyone meet me in the zeta room in five. I've got something to show you guys."

There's awkward silence as everyone stands around watching me.

I'm typing on my wrist holo-computer.

"What's up, Rob?" Wally and Roy arrived back a few minutes ago without their mentors. I don't blame the older heroes for wanting to stay away.

"This morning I hacked into the League files and emergency communicators and rerouted them to the Hall. Directly into our base of operations." I hold up a hand and a large blue holographic screen appears showing information, League protocols, and emergencies happening around the planet.

"Casually, huh?" Roy leans against the wall.

Kyle snorts. "You, a fourteen year old kid, hacked into the most secure database on the planet on your first try?"

"No, actually I hacked into the League database for the first time when I was nine. And then again last year. Batman's updated the security so it took me a few hours but," I shrug. "I'm in."

"Just like that? Wow." Rachel has her hood up and her face is shadowed. "But how does this help us?"

"We can intercept communications for help and anywhere nearby where we might be needed. So nothing like Metropolis happens again." I press a button and the communications come to life.

"...hurricane out of the southwest heading east, four planes within those coordinates...tsunami on the pacific islands...Captain Marvel, Captain Atom, and Plastic Man are on the scene. Icon is needed in France, a super villain has taken over the Louvre..."

"Very impressive, Robin," Kaldur says.

Kara looks determined. "Okay. Then what can we do? I can't just sit here anymore." Her hands curl into fists.

"...we have an unidentified extraterrestrial object aiming for Star City coordinates forty, twenty, sixteen..."

I smile. "That sounds like us."

"How do you make sure nobody else shows up and usurps us?" M'gann asks, sounding excited. This is her first assignment ever, after all.

"Like this. Everybody quiet." I clear my throat and press a button.

"Report in. Identify yourselves please."

"Green Arrow A-09 reporting in," I say in my best impression of Oliver Queen's voice. Roy has to bite his lip to keep from snickering.

"Green Arrow. Very good, and I'm assuming you're reporting to take care of the UFO sighted in your area?"

"That's right, I've got it handled," I manage to put all of Green Arrow's snark into my impersonation. "When I'm done with it, it'll be a IFO."

"Do I even want to ask?"

I pull off my best GA laugh. "Identified falling object. I'll alert the League if I need back up. Green Arrow signing off."

I hang up and Roy and Wally immediately burst into laughter. "That was perfect, Rob!"

"It is actually somewhat disconcerting how you managed to pull that off so easily," Kaldur says, though he can't suppress a smirk either.

I wave him off. "This is what the League gets for screwing with us. We help them while they think they're helping themselves."

Wally, of course, is the first to process this. "Awesome. So let's get going!"

"Everybody, suit up!"

Since we don't have a League issue minivan, everyone agrees to get there on their own time. Over half of our team can fly so it's really the rest of us that need rides. It's not too far so Kid Flash can run there without getting too tired. But that leaves myself, Kaldur (now Aqualad), and Roy (Speedy). I summon my R-cycle and it speeds down the streets of Star City on its own accord. With its little sidecar attached.

"You get all the nice toys," KF whines. We're in costume so it's better to think of each other and talk to each other with our hero names to not give anyone away.

Green Bean—uh, Green Lantern—laughs. "You have your own motorcycle? Dude, hook me up." Then he, Supergirl, Miss Martian, and Raven take to the sky. Kid Flash races after them.

"Okay," I turn to the older boys. "One on the back, one in the side car."

"Can I drive?" Speedy asks.

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's my motorcycle. Plus, you just got your provisional."

"How do you know that?"

"Do you know who I am?"

"Friends, I think we should stop our arguing and make haste."

"I am not riding in the sidecar."

"Fine, then you're on the back. We've got to go!"

Speedy grumpily hops on behind me and I quickly put in my vocal recognition passcode ("Robin slaves for Batman") and Aqualad gets into the sidecar with as much dignity as he can. I punch the gas, eager not be left in the dust from the speedster and the flyers.

"Wow, you're breaking like every traffic law known to man," Speedy shouts in my ear as I swerve in and out of traffic and hop a curve.

"Yeah, police and I don't really get along," I shout back. "Tell me if you see any." Plus, Batman's not here to bail me out or at least intimidate the cops into getting off my back.

Speedy mutters under his breath about something but I ignore him.

"How you doing, Aqualad?" I call over to him.

He looks sick. "I..." He closes his eyes and shakes his head.

"Rightio, well, we're almost there."

We arrive at the sight of the impact which is luckily in the middle of this little dog park and not a supermarket or somebody's house.

"KF, I need you and Miss Martian to set up a perimeter. I don't want any civilians within a half a mile of this place. Aqualad, Speedy, get ready, we're going to be seriously in trouble if this thing is hostile."

"How do you know it's even alive?" Green Lantern hovers down.

I show him the thermal image of the object. "It's pulsing with...something. I don't know if that's life, but I'm not taking any risks. Now we need to slow it down. Who's the fastest flyer?"

Raven bobs her head over to Supergirl. "Probably her."

Supergirl turns a little pink but she nods. "Yeah."

"Okay, I need you to get up there and try to get some sort of grip on the object to slow it down. Superman has stopped meteors in the past, so you should be able to handle this. It's small," I demonstrate with my hands, "about a meter—er, three feet across." Darn American way of counting. Everybody always stares at me blankly when I talk in meters but then when we're talking 39.37 inches suddenly everything is so clear.

I turn to the other two. "Green Lantern, I need you to make a sort of cushion. Supergirl may be able to slow it down, but it's all ready entered the atmosphere so it's going to land whether we want it to or not. And Raven, I need you to help cover us from any shrapnel. It would suck to get impaled."

Everybody sets out to do their appointed tasks.

Kid Flash and Miss Martian return from clearing out the civilians. We all duck behind the wall of darkness Raven made with her powers. Green Lantern makes his own shield and a huge mattress for the growing speck in the sky.

From past experience, I cover my ears. I look up to see Supergirl hurdling towards us with her back towards the ground. In her arms, glowing with intense heat, is our object.

I can only register that it's bright blue before it slams into the ground.

There's a deafening boom and Raven cries out as debris crashes into her wall.

We roll out from behind our barrier, weapons drawn, and head towards the steaming crater.

"Wow, that hurt." Supergirl stands up in the crater, her uniform scorched and torn. But she looks alright. "Good thing it wasn't made of Kryptonite, huh?"

I wince. Oh, I probably should have checked to see if it was before sending her. But she doesn't have to know that. "Get back."

"It's not going to hurt you."

"Supergirl, please."

She holds her hands up and flies out of the crater. She punches GL on the shoulder. "Thanks for softening the fall."

He rubs it with a pained expression on his face. "Uh, you're welcome."

Speedy and Aqualad cover me as I slowly approach the hole. The steam and dust clears and I get a look at our UFO.

It's egg shaped though still pretty big. It looks smooth and hard so I think it must be made out of some type of alien material.

I do a quick scan to see if it will in any way harm my health before kneeling down and picking it up.

"What is it?" KF runs over and looks at it.

I hold it up to the light. It's not as heavy as I thought it would be. And for something that looks so smooth...it feels like it has microscopic hairs on it. "I...have no idea. Any guesses?" After all, Kid Flash is our resident science genius.

"No idea." He takes the orb from me and weighs it in his hands. "It's almost some type of polymer but way more advanced than anything we've made so far. Definitely alien."

"That's what I thought." I take back the orb. "But it's not some type of solidified gas like hydrogen? Methane?"

"Not that I can determine. I would have to run it through an electron microscope to make sure of its molecular formula. Maybe it's some derivative of phosphorous?"

"Would explain the glow..."

"Guys, not all of us speak geek," Speedy says, rolling his eyes.

"Chill out, Speedo. We've got it." KF turns to me. "Is there a place we can look at this more closely?"

"There's a lab back at the base."

"Is it alive?" M'gann asks, reaching out to touch it.

I study the dark blue swirling pattern of the orb. It almost seems to pulse. Like a heartbeat. The shapes it makes aren't describable. "I don't know."

"If it suddenly hatches and starts calling us mommy, I say we make a run for it," Green Lantern says, holding his hands up.

"Aren't you suppose to know different alien races and stuff?" Speedy says. "Don't you know what it is?"

"I've never seen it. I'm new at this, remember? It could be a giant bird egg though."

"I sure hope not," I say. "The largest bird on earth is the royal albatross but even its eggs aren't this huge. Of course the ostrich has the largest eggs but it—"

"Thank you, walking encyclopedia," Raven says, rolling her eyes.

I hoist the egg up in my arms so I have a better grip on it. "Whatever it is, we better take it with us."

"This is the Star City Police! Identify yourselves! What is going on here?"

I let out a groan of irritation. "Seriously? The cops? Ugh." I turn and give my best friendly smile. Under my breath I say, "Aqualad, I think you better handle this one."

He glances at me questioningly.

"They're more likely to listen to someone older than me," I say out of the corner of my mouth with the same smile still in my face. "And you sound more trustworthy anyhow."

Aqualad grins. "Very well." He moves off, smiling encouragingly at the nervous police officer who spoke earlier.

I load the egg onto my bike, pulling out some duct tape and bubble wrap to keep it safe before stuffing it in the sidecar.

KF speeds over. "Ah, and you also got Aqualaddy out of the way so you didn't directly have to confront him on how he has to give up his seat to our little eggy."

"I could make you carry it, but I'd be afraid you'd drop it, Kid Clutz," I say back.

Aqualad comes back over. "I have settle things with the police and—why is the egg in my seat?"

"Supergirl will carry you back," I say, hiding my smile as I get on the bike. "Unless Speedy would rather—"

He quickly hops on behind me. "No way I'm ever having a girl carry me around. See yah, Aqualad."

Shrugging, I kick up the stand and speed away. I hope the police don't get too mad that I tore up the grass with my motorcycle.

Back at the base, Kid Flash and I intensely study the thing. The others watch for a while but quickly get bored after an hour of watching us take measurements and input data.

"It's all cool when it's expositions and fire, but no one likes this part," Wally says, speed-writing down some notes.

"I like is part," I say defensively. I throw my pencil at him and it hits him square between the eyes. "And write normally. I can't read a word of that."

"Kay, sheesh." He continues writing at a slower, more normal pace. "Rob...the thing that happened in Metropolis..."

I stiffen but then berate myself for doing so. Stupid. "What about it?"

"Was your friend that was injured that hot girl you were with before?"

I sigh. I reach up and remove my mask and look over at Wally. "Yeah."

Wally nods. "Is she alright?"

"Broken arm and I think she hit her head. Minor abrasions too." Part of this the nurse didn't even tell me, so I took the liberty of hacking into the Metropolis medical files.

"What's her name, Dick?" He grins at me. "She a model?"

I shake my head ruefully. "Not a model. She's Barbara Gordon."

Wally's mouth falls open. "The Commissioner's daughter. Dick, you dog! Playing with fire are we?"

I laugh. "I guess. It's tough sometimes. I've met her as Robin and as Richard so it's sort of weird."

"Who does she like more?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, does she like Richard or Robin more? I mean, we all know Richard's such a player with the ladies. I'm still offering to be your wingman for that by the way."

I roll my eyes. Then I remember he can actually see me doing that since I don't have my mask. "No thanks. People might put two and two together."

"Like they do with you and Bats? Doubt it." He bounces on the balls of his feet and says, "You avoided the question."

"I've taught you well, young padawan. And why would she like Robin more?"

"Dude, you've got your own fan club!"

"I do?" I blink. "Since when?"

"Since you went public! Every girl was like, 'oh my god, he's so hot and he's so dark and mysterious'." Wally makes his voice high to imitate these imaginary fan girls. "You've got girls coming out of both identities! Totally not fair."

"You can have them. Say you're my...second cousin. That's what people do when they want to get some of the action Bruce gets. It only lasts for a week or so before they get identified as some strange person from some random place, but..."

"Best week of my life!" I can already see the gears turning in his head. "Do you think I could pull it off?"

"Well..." I look him up and down. "You look nothing like me. So no. Can't you find a girlfriend in your own city?"

"Please, all the girls there still think I'm either irritating or a science nerd."

"Both of which you are."

"Hey!" Wally chucks his own pencil at me but I catch it and throw it back. It hits him in the ear. "Ouch! Stop doing that!"

"You started it."

"You wanna go, bird boy?"

"Bring it on, baby Flash."

We both strike up fake ninja poses and are about to launch into a full on pencil-throwing war before I hear the exterior door to the lab slide open.

"Crap!" I slap back on my mask just as the interior door opens.

"Are you guys getting any work done in here?" Kara asks in an annoying "I am your mother" sort of way.

Wally sticks out his tongue at her. "Yeah. We figured out we have no idea what this thing is and where it came from."

"We know it came from space," I say helpfully.

Kara rolls her eyes. "Well, when you guys are done, M'gann helped me make something to eat. I hoped you like squashed lettuce soup."

"Food?" Wally is gone in a flash.

Kara sighs and straightens her hair that was disheveled as Wally ran by. "You coming, Robin?"

I grin. "Yeah, I'll be right there."

She nods and exits the lab.

I sigh and lean my hands against the table. I'm still in uniform and I should probably change for dinner. My stomach grumbles in agreement.

I look over at the egg which is sitting in the pseudo-nest that Rachel helped me build. (And yeah, Roy already pointed out the irony of how the two birds on the team built a nest for the egg. It's not that funny.) The thing is still pulsing with a strange light.

"Weird." I walk over and lay a hand against it. It's warm to the touch. "Really weird."

A loud sound suddenly comes from the computer on the wall and the screen lights up with a message saying, "Incoming call".

Confused, I walk over and hit answer.

"Robin! Please tell me this is you!"

My eyes widen in surprise. "Batman?"

"Yes, thank god you're alright!"

I frown. "Why wouldn't I be? And why are you calling? I thought you said we shouldn't call each other because because it would cost you thousands of dollars."

"Yes, but it's an emergency," he takes a breath. "Even so, we should keep this short. Robin, this whole distraction on Tamaran was just that—a distraction. It was an elaborate trick to get the highest ranking and most powerful members of the League off of Earth."

"What!" I grab the desk. "Are you serious?"

"The person behind this plot is called Metus, an alien with a flare for dramatics. He's extremely powerful. He lured us away from Earth just to tease us with the prospect of sending our only hope to Earth."

I open and close my mouth. This took a turn for the unexpected.

"Tell me, Robin, did anything happen on Earth? Anything strange from space?"

I glance over my shoulder at the pulsing egg. "Uh..."

"I don't know much about it, but I do know it's somehow connected to Metus in some metaphysical way."

"Metaphysical?"

"His soul and therefore some of his power is attached to it."

I walk over and pick up the orb, eyeing it closely. The blue light seems to pulse more in response to my touch. "Uh, Bats..."

"It's imperative that you find it. Metus seems to have some type of personnel vendetta towards me and I'm afraid it could affect you to."

"Well, we did find this magical egg today," I say.

Batman is silent for a moment. "An...egg?"

"Yeah, it's all blue and glowing." I hold the egg up. The pulsing seems to go even faster. It's starting to heat up in my hands. But I can't seem to get myself to put it down.

"Are you with it right now?" Batman sounds urgent.

"Yeah, it's really starting to get hot..."

"Richard! Listen to me! There's only one way you can save us all!"

I hug the egg close to my chest and tune Bats out. I can hear a thrumming in my ears that seems to be in rhythm with the pulsing of the egg. "Eh, sorry, what was that, B?"

"I said, you need to destroy the egg!"

"Destroy...destroy the egg..." I say the words but they don't click in my head. The thrumming is increasing. The blue light spreads out around the entire room, making everything glow like it's underwater.

"Yes! Dick, are you listening to me? Dick!"

Slowly, like molasses, my mind starts to move. "Destroy...the egg..." I raise my hands above my head with the egg in them, intent on throwing it to the ground. The thing just glows a solid blue now, so bright it's almost blinding. "Destroy..."

"Dick? Dick!"

"Bruce...something's wrong..." My arms feel heavy and light. By head is full of fog but amazingly clear. Where am I?

A voice comes from the computer thingy next to me. "Dick! Please! I can't lose you!"

I'm still holding the egg up. Who's Dick? The thrumming grows to an unimaginable intensity and I feel like my eardrums are going to pop.

"Dick! Richard! Robin!" The voice coming from the wall sounds frantic. I wonder who they're looking for.

I look up at the underside of the egg. The blue is so bright its white. My head feels heavy on my shoulders. It lolls back and I feel my hands slip. The thing I was holding comes down towards my face, it's humming at its maximum.

I hear the voice on the computer scream that strange name one more time before the world goes white and I see black.

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Ah! A cliff hanger! I'm so awful XD. Read and review! If I get enough reviews, I might even post what happens next a little sooner... Hmmm...

*youwishyouwerethiscool


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks for the reviews! My sincerest apologies for the wait. Enough torture...let us find out wait awaits young Robin...

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6

When I wake up, my head feels like it's stuffed full of cotton. The first sense that returns back to me is my sense of smell which is unfortunate. I seem to be in a dumpster of some kind.

Bruce once told me that something like this would happen to me if I ever got drunk. Except I wouldn't be dressed as Robin and my clothes would be inside out.

I shake that thought from my head as I try to get up. My arm immediately sinks into some type of mushy warm substance. My stomach curls up and dies.

Groaning, I shift my weight and I try to position myself to get out of this stupid dumpster. But it's like trying to maneuver through quicksand that smells like rotten eggs.

I finally manage to not so gracefully get to the edge of the dumpster and sort of do this half jump half fall onto the sidewalk. I stumble and hit the ground.

I look down at myself. I look like I've been through the garbage disposal. My cape and uniform is torn and matted with a fine film of ground food. I think there's an orange peel in my left shoe.

I reach up and rub by eyes with grimy gloves. I'm still wearing my mask, which is a plus. But where—

I suddenly freeze, my breath catching in my throat. And not just from the stench. I quickly look around. Where the heck am I?

I glance up at the sky and see that it's about five o'clock at night. Around the same time I last remember. What do I remember?

Batman...he contacted me...I think. He said something about the egg.

The egg!

I lean over the dumpster, even though the smell makes me retch, and search frantically for the egg. No luck. Where'd it go?

I feel a sort of panic set in as my heads starts to clear. Batman was really freaking out about the egg. Something happened. Did it teleport me somewhere? I think I still remember everything, so it probably didn't erase my memories. Unless of course I forgot what I forgot which sort of makes sense. But I don't have any holes in my memory other than from when I passed out.

I bring up my wrist computer but it's acting all wonky. It keeps saying it's connection is down. But it's connected straight to the Bat-cave.

Even files that don't need a connection aren't coming up. Instead, I get an image that says, "No data available." That's not suppose to happen.

I decide that the only way I'm going to figure anything out is by going out and looking for myself. So, sticking to the shadows, I creep out of the dumpster alley I was in and out into the open street.

What I see surprises me.

I'm in Star City...but at the same time I'm not.

The layout is definitely the same. I even recognize the buildings and shops. But then there's the ever so random thing thrown into the mix that confuses me. Like, for instance, where I am right now. This is suppose to be the Hall of Justice. But instead...

I turn and look up at the restaurant whose dumpster I ended up in.

Super Burgers.

No way. The Hall of Justice, one of the major outposts of the Justice League, is a cheep looking burger joint?

I almost pass out. But I manage to keep it together. Focus. I look around for a clothing shop. I can't walk around in my costume all day. Some people are already giving me strange looks.

I go into a place called Mothballs and Merchandise and pick up a some Star City touristy junk. An itchy long sleeve fleece jacket, some hiking pants, a cap that says "I *star* Star City". It all fits over my uniform but I have to ditch my cape in a trash can. It was ruined anyways. I remove my mask as the last touch and pull the hat down low.

I leave the store looking nicer. Although the smell still lingers. It allows me to part through the crowd easily though, since nobody wants to bump into the kid who smells like he just washed out of a sewer.

I need to get my bearings. Figure out where I am. Star City, obviously, but why doesn't the Hall of Justice exist?

I suddenly have this picture in my head of myself with a really long beard like that guy who fell asleep for one hundred years and woke up to see the world completely different. Then another thought quickly follows of my body appearing dead so somebody dumps me in the trash.

Sheesh, I've got to think more positive.

My stomach growls, reminding me that I skipped out on dinner. I think.

I head into a close by diner and sit down at a booth. I get out my phone to pretend to be just another mindless teenager, albeit one who smells and looks like Star City threw up on them. Not even my phone is getting a connection though, which is seriously starting to weird me out.

The TV over the bar is on the news and I look up at it, hoping to see someone familiar.

A clean cut man with blonde hair is standing behind a podium, making a speech. "...make sure we keep our city safe and clean. Powers do not make a hero. What the heroes do with their powers is what we must trust in. I fully support the Heroic Alliance."

The crowd on screen claps and cheers. One guy at the bar grunts at the screen and says loudly to the waitress, "I trust the Heroic Alliance about as much as I can throw them. Supers are what's going to get us killed."

The waitress shrugs. "If our mayor says they're okay...well, we have to trust someone will help us."

"Load of freaks and power hungry politicians."

"Politicians?"

"Heard a rumor the Superman was going to run for president."

A burly woman sitting beside him says, "If that happens, I'm moving someplace else. The supers have enough power, why make them officially in charge."

"Enough talk about this," the waitress says. "I don't want to get any supers breathing down my neck."

The mayor of Star City continues, "The Alliance has agreed to work beside the governments and the people. Not for them, and not to overthrow them. We are all equals, powers or not."

The camera switches back to the hostess, who I recognize as Cider Penn. "And that was the speech from Mayor Oliver Queen of Star City, announcing his public endorsement of the Heroic Alliance."

I feel my mouth drop open. Oliver Queen? Mayor? The beardless, serious looking guy on the screen is Oliver Queen? No way. That's it, I'm in another dimension.

The waitress walks over. She smiles, glancing back at the TV. She must have noticed my surprised expression. "Yeah, I can't believe he's endorsing them either. Especially since Star City isn't power friendly, so to speak. We don't even have a Super."

I look at her. "What about Green Arrow?"

She blinks. "Who? You mean Green Lantern, Hun? He's not from here. He's an alien, or something."

I feel my face go pale. "Oh. What about..." I'm almost too scared to ask. "Gotham City?"

The waitress gets a funny look. "Gotham? If a hero existed there, it would be that Commissioner Gordon. But no, supers don't really come out of there. Crazy murderers do."

"Sharyl," the one guy at the bar calls, "what about those pancakes?"

"Be right with you, Hun." She looks back at me. "Don't mean to scare you, dear."

I shake my head, still trying to wrap my mind around this. "And Batman?"

The waitress pauses, tapping her pen against her notepad. "Well, I don't think he's real, dear. The allegations that some man in a bat costume was flying around Gotham only started a week ago. Nobody's taken a picture of him of anything. Now, what can I get for you? Dear? You there?"

I blink rapidly to clear my head. "Uh, yeah, sorry, I'll have the blueberry pancakes."

"Coming right up." The waitress walks away from me and starts up another conversation with the people at the bar.

I turn my attention back to the TV.

Cider's smiling face is back. "And we have a special surprise for viewers tonight. For the first time in years, Gotham's prodigal prince has returned to the limelight. Looking more handsome and dashing than ever, I might add. This is his first appearance in the public spotlight since he returned from his extensive world tour. Tomorrow night a welcome home party has been announced to celebrate his return..."

The camera shows a handsome face smirking at the camera as he shows off his supermodel date and heads towards some type of public event, cameras flashing all around like strobe lights.

I'm suddenly not hungry any more. Because the face on that screen is the familiar one of Bruce Wayne, billionaire, playboy, and my adopted father.

But he's different. Younger. The Bruce I know just turned 30.

This Bruce has to be no older than 21.

I didn't just travel to a different world. I traveled back in time.

Well, not in a time I remember. I never heard of Oliver Queen being mayor. And as far as I know, no Heroic Alliance ever existed either. Bruce helped form the first alliance among heroes: the Justice League.

I need to figure out what's going on. And the only way to do it is to find the one person who can help me.

Batman. Who apparently only just started up. Joy.

I take a cab to Gotham, which is one of the most humiliating moments of my life. Here I am. A superhero to one of the most powerful men in the world in or out of uniform. And I'm taking the cab.

The cabby gives me a lecture about Gotham and how dangerous it is. I think he thinks I'm running away from home or something. I decide to roll with it. So when we're outside the Bell Hotel, I put on my best little kid face and turn to look at him. He gives me a simpering smile and offers to call my parents. I refuse, but accept the coat he offers instead, something monochromatic to help me blend in and hide my Star City memorabilia. I tip him two hundred dollars. He stares at me, wishes me good luck, and then drives off. I hope he has good luck too.

I turn to face my city. It's...different than I remember. I identify four different people who are carrying weapons right out in the open. I hear things in Italian, Russian, Ukrainian, that make me cringe. There's not a single person out on the street who doesn't have a hint of a beard or a six pack to back them up. It's starting to get dark, and I'm beginning to realize that my age makes me stick out even more prominently than my yellow hat.

The number of people with weapons is growing. I see people stumbling drunk down the street as the streetlights flicker to life. I hear laughter that sounds too carefree to be normal. It echoes off the buildings that seem abandoned. There's also a distant crying. And then the sirens start.

This isn't the Gotham I remember. This is Gotham without Batman.

I sidestep some sketchy guy who looks like he's about to casually bump into me and pick my pockets. He gives me this feral look out of the corner of his eye, but thankfully doesn't stop or follow me.

Snow starts to fall, the gray don't-eat-unless-you-want-cancer kind. It sticks to my clothes, making me look like ash has fallen on me. I need to get out of here. I need to find Batman.

I duck into an alley, ignoring the drunk women and men who whistle at me and try to get me to go over to them. I scramble up a fire escape, grateful I kept my gloves on since the metal is cold.

Once on the rooftops, I feel freer. More like my old self. I can almost look around and imagine this is the place I know. But then I look closer and see the differences.

Bruce went on hiatus for a while, training in Europe, being taught at Cambridge and a number of other exceptional colleges in various degrees. He also was trained by monks, African native tribes, you name it. He returned back to Gotham at the age of 21 to try to bring civilization back to his hometown. He cleaned up the streets and funded law enforcement as Bruce Wayne, while the Dark Knight made his debut as a hero for Gothamites to turn towards.

I know from what Bruce told me that Gotham was rotten to the core when he first started. And it's slowly been getting better ever since.

But the Batman's only been around for a week. And it shows.

Sadly, I shake my head. He has a lot of work to do. But enough about that, I have a bigger problem than things that have already happened. I need to find my mentor. If I was a younger Batman patrolling Gotham for the first time, where would I go?

I answer is so obvious, I could almost laugh.

Wayne Tower, of course. The tallest building in Gotham.

Suddenly, I hear a strange sound. A bone rattling boom. A sonic boom. From the sky. Which either means a plane is flying at the speed of sound really close to a populated area or...

Superman's come to see if the Batman does exist.

Buhaha! Another cliff hanger! I know you all probably now want to hang me from a cliff...oh well. I enjoy this. *youwishyouwerethiscool 


	7. Chapter 7

I was feeling generous. Here's the next chapter. Review.

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7

It's easy to find Batman. I beat Superman to it in fact. And he's flying at the speed of sound. Pretty good, if I do say so myself.

I stick to the shadows though. If I'm right, he won't know who I am. Better to play it safe.

He's standing at the edge of Wayne Tower, black cape billowing around him, doing his I AM THE NIGHT—FEAR ME pose.

I'm standing only a few meters away but he hasn't taken any notice yet. And I'm pretty sure he's not just ignoring me. I'm pretty confident that he's still the Bats I know and I can read him well enough to know that he's still completely unaware of my presence. At least, I hope. Otherwise, this gets a whole lot more complicated.

There's a whoosh and a flap of a cape and Superman drifts down from the sky, arms casually crossed until he's about even with Batman standing on the building. I see two others following behind him. Huh, looks like the gang's all here. Wonder Woman and Green Lantern decided to come to Gotham too.

"We meet at last." Superman's eyes seem to glow in the night, enhancing his dramatic phrasing. "You weren't as hard to find as we thought you were."

Batman doesn't move. "I'm not exactly hiding."

Superman looks around sheepishly at the building they're standing at the top of, and the dramatic mood is broken. "Yeah..."

"I am Diana, Princess of Themyscira and we come seeking out the one called the Batman. Are you him?" Wonder Woman is gorgeous but she must be freezing in that outfit she has on.

Batman says nothing.

"Uh, well, it's kind of obvious it's him," Green Lantern mutters under his breath. He's the Hal Jordan I remember. "So here's the deal: we want you to join the Heroic Alliance."

Batman crosses his arms and still refuses to speak.

"Of course, we'll need you to take the ST test," Superman says, gesturing offhandedly. "So we know what types of powers you have."

Batman tilts his head in the Man of Steel's direction. "Two things. One: ST already stands for Super Test so saying 'ST test' is just redundant. Two: If you morons think I'm going to follow you anywhere, you're out of your minds. So you can get the—"

I freeze. Did I just laugh out loud? Uh oh...

Batman and the others all turn ninety degrees to look at my position in the shadows.

"Who's there?" Green Lantern calls out, raising his ring.

I hesitantly cough and step into the moonlight. "Hey, what's up?"

The adults stare at me. I feel their eyes on my messy hair, my rumbled clothes, my dirty appearance. I'm fully aware I look like homeless kid with a Star City obsession. I don't have a mask on which makes me uncomfortable; this is the first time most have them have seen my face uncovered. But identities don't really matter since I'm how old—five?—right now. And on the other side of the world with my family.

My throat suddenly constricts. My family...they're all still alive...my mom...my dad...

"He's just a kid!" Superman says in surprise.

His voice snaps me out of my gloomy thoughts. "Astute analysis. Anything else?" I snap at him which is probably uncalled for but suddenly I'm not in the mood.

Batman studies me and I can tell he's shocked I snuck up on him.

I start thinking to myself: hey self, how much of what you know you can tell them so they won't lock you up in Arkham? Well self, I reply, pretty much none of it. So I launch into a total spur of the moment role that is one of my best performances yet.

"Oh my god, you're Superman!" I say, a total fanboy. "And Wonder Woman and Green Lantern! And Batman, you are real!" I sound like a kid meeting Santa Claus for the first time, but whatever. I can totally play off my age to make them trust me. "You guys are like my idols!" I change my accent ever so slightly so I sound like I'm from Central City instead of Gotham. Elongated vowels with a sort of bounce to them.

"How the heck did you get up here?" Green Lantern says.

"I took the elevator," I say, excitedly pointing at the one right next to me. I actually didn't, but I'm not going to show them my grappling gun.

Superman sniffs the air. "Is that smell...is that you?"

I open my mouth and then close it. Oh right. I stink. Literally. I totally forgot. My nose must have adjusted. "Yeah, I sort of fell in a dumpster." Sort of. I guess.

Superman nods. "Oh. Well, that explains why I didn't smell you. I thought it was just Gotham grime."

Duly noted. Superman hasn't worked on his senses that much yet. He's just as inexperienced as Batman. I'm willing to guess the others are too. I think back to what I overheard in the TV at the diner. Green Arrow—I mean Mayor Oliver Queen—was endorsing the Heroic Alliance like it was a new deal just getting started out. I'm willing to bet Superman was the instigator of that little Alliance. Sounds like something he would name it.

Another thought crosses my mind. Green Arrow doesn't exist. There's as ST thingy that I've never heard of before but apparently has to do with identifying super power. Conclusion: being a superhero in wherever world I am equals having super powers. Which means they think Batman has some type of powers. That's too funny.

I'm grinning like the Joker and I'm pretty sure I'm sketching them out but whatever, I've got a show to do. "It is really an honor to meet you." I step forward and see Batman tense. I quickly put up my hands. "I really mean no harm. Honestly." At least that part's honest. "All I want is...to be trained by you..." Not really sure where that came from but I'll roll with it.

"Okay, kid, that's cute and all, but we're kind of in the middle of something." Green Lantern gestures at Batman. "And you're too young. Come back when you've got a little hair on that chest.

I give my little kid pout. "But I'm good! Really! I am! I can kick some serious butt."

Superman lands on the roof next to Batman. Batman turns his head to look at Superman like, What'chu doing on my roof, dude?

"Look son, do your parents know you're here?"

My eyes flicker to Batman. "Yeah."

Wonder Woman snorts. "This child thinks he is a warrior. It is so much like a man to think he is automatically ready for combat. If the boy thinks he is ready, perhaps he should test out his strength on me!" She grips her lasso in her inhumanly strong hands.

Superman puts up a hand. "Uh, Wonder Woman, I don't think—uh, where are you going?"

Batman had turned and was starting to walk away. "Leaving." He keeps going toward the edge of the building. A green wall appears in front of him and he stops, looking irritatedly back at Green Lantern.

Green Lantern lands. "Wait, we aren't finished with you. It's dangerous to have an uncatalogued super running around."

"I don't answer to you," he replies in his nails-on-a-chalkboard voice. I'm waiting for the, "I only answer to justice!" punchline, but I guess that's something only Superman would say. In any case, Green Lantern refuses to put down his wall.

Superman comes towards me. "Kid, look, I need you to go home. This is dangerous work, not suited for small children."

Ugh, it's like introducing myself to them all over again. "Nah, I can handle it. I've got my own abilities." I give him a winning smiling that only a Wayne can do. "I've got extreme social skills."

"What the heck does that mean?" Green Lantern says in distaste. Wonder Woman gives him a look for instigating the conversation further. But it's all in my favor.

I raise an eyebrow. "It's basically like mind reading expect not as messy. I learn things about people just by talking to them and learning their gestures. And I never forget." I keep the eager to please lightness in my voice but bring a slightly serious undertone in. They have to take me seriously while at the same time know I'm not a threat. Unless they threaten me. Then we have to go to Plan B.

"And how does that help you with combat?" Wonder Woman asks, finally giving in.

"It helped me discover the identities of everyone here," I say casually.

Silence greets this.

"He's bluffing," Green Lantern says.

"Am I?" I turn to look at him. "Hal Jordan?" Then Superman. "Clark Kent." I smirk at the Princess. "Diana Prince. And..."

I feel something sharp at my throat. A bat-a-rang.

"Don't you dare," a voice growls in my ear.

I cackle and sort of sound insane. They look at me like I am, anyways. "You going to kill me? That goes against your code, doesn't it B?"

I feel the cool metal on my throat. And suddenly it's gone. "Who are you?" He backs up so he can face me along side Superman and the others. They're all glaring/staring.

"You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you," I say, shrugging. "But where I'm from, I'm called Robin, Boy Wonder."

I am well aware this chapter was pretty short. Maybe I'll be generous again...all depends on the influx of REVIEWS I may get... *youwishyouwerethiscool


	8. Chapter 8

The author trudges through the underbrush, hot sweat running down their forehead. They look around, seeing the clouded sky scattered between the fan-like leaves far above their head. The author sighs, getting out their phone and their eyes light up. What's this? A signal? The author hastily boots up their laptop, kept safe from the run after all these weeks. Quickly, they type in their information and watch in trepidation as the blue bar inches forward as the screen loads... Success! Quickly the author copy and pastes the chapter they had written and crosses their fingers as they watch the bars in the top corner of their screen fluctuate as the signal starts to fade... "New Chapter: Chapter 8 has been submitted. Please note it can take up to 30 minutes for the changes to take effect."

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8

I'm in space, I'm pretty sure.

After my little declaration, I felt something sharp shoot me in the neck. I immediately dropped. It was one of Batman's tranquilizer darts. Everything went a little weird after that. Everyone was talking like they were underwater. It sounded like arguing. I see some colors float by that sort of form the shape of a cupcake but then they fade. Dang...Batman trained me to withstand a number of poisons and sedatives. But this might be some new concoction of the Bat's that he hasn't had FDA approved (I'm just kidding he doesn't approve his sedatives). Either way, I'm floating in my head, only vaguely aware of my surroundings. I just hope I keep my mouth closed until I can fight off this stuff.

I'm being carrying around by someone bridal style, that much I know. It's actually really irritating.

There's a feeling all around me, like artificial gravity. I think they took me to the Watchtower. I guess some things haven't changed then. I think Superman is carrying me, he smells like his aftershave. He puts way too much on which only highlights the fact that he's single. Must not have met Lois yet. Or maybe he has and by overpowering her sense of smell is how he's trying to attract her.

There's doors opening and closing. I can hear Batman's voice grunting at someone behind me, which means he agreed to follow them only for my sake. He's probably going to see what I know and then take me out. That is protocol after all.

I'm placed on a cool metal chair and my hands are tied behind me. Cheap rope, not even zip ties. I mean, come on. I loll my head forward, pretending to be asleep, but when something sharp is jabbed into my arm, I jerk awake. "Hey!"

"Hey," it's the Flash...I think. His face is completely covered though and the yellow is gone from his red long-johns, replaced with black. His voice his muffled. But I watch the way he stands and the way he holds himself. Tapping his foot, can't keep still, shoulders back but still hunched in the slightest inch of apprehension that comes with being a new hero. Yeah, this is Barry Allen.

"What's that?" I nod my head at the blood sample he just took.

"Testing you for meta genes. Evaluating if you're a threat." This Barry doesn't seem quite as talkative. But that might just be because he thinks I'm just a crazy kid.

I nod. "Okay. But I don't have any powers. Unless you count being irritating and handsome," I give him my best smirk.

Mystery Flash makes a little sound in his throat that might be a laugh. So maybe there's hope for him yet. I can't tell what his expression is under his mask, but based off the slightly raised quality of his cheeks, he's smiling. "Sure hope you're not lying, kid. Name?" He's suddenly holding a clipboard in his hands.

I sigh. "Robin."

He scribbles it down but then pauses. "Last name?"

I shrug.

He lets out an irritated huff. "Look, we can—"

"Either do this the easy way or the hard way. Either you tell me your name now, or I let Batman in so he can beat the snot out of you and get you to tell. Your choice." I itch my neck with my shoulder. "That's what you were going to say, right?"

Flash stares at me and I can tell he's glaring. But he's got nothing on Bats. "Fine, have it your way." Shaking his head, he leaves me alone. As the door closes, I catch, "Maybe being irritating is a superpower."

I take my time alone to study my surroundings. Mirrors on all four walls so I can't tell where they're watching me from. Camera top left and behind me top right. Ropes tying me up are loose and frayed. They took my hat away from me which stinks. Didn't search me though. I still have my utility belt and Robin uniform on under my smelly clothes. They also took the wool jacket that cabby gave me. Honestly.

The door opens and Superman floats in. He has his arms crossed and is looking sternly down at me. "Robin, son, you need to work with us. If you're not going to answer our questions, you'll be locked away for a long time. We can't have a loudmouth little kid running around with our secret identities."

I roll my eyes. "I think your Heroic Code or whatever it is you guys have might go against that. And I wasn't here to shove my knowledge of your identities in your faces. If I wanted to harm you, I could have gone straight to the press." I give him a sly smile. "And you know what they're like, eh, Clark?"

Superman's eye flash red. I swear, he's about to laser vision me to death. "Then what do you want?"

"Honestly, I need your help. All of your help. I do need a type of training from you, in a way." But that's a bit of a stretch. What I need is information about this world, a magic disappearing egg, and some guy named Metus who's butt needs to be kicked.

Superman crosses his arms over his chest, muscles flexing menacingly. "Why? You in trouble? The cops? Don't tell me you're one of our heroes' kids."

I almost laugh at that. "Well, not really on the best of terms with the cops, and...I guess I sort of am somebody's kid."

"Who?"

I shake my head. "Secrets is the name of the game. Can't say too much."

He scowls. "You had no trouble blurting out secrets earlier."

The door suddenly bursts open and Batman is framed in the entrance to my holding cell.

Superman jumps in surprise and looks at him. "Batman! I told you, I've got this—"

"The kid undid all the bonds on his hands a few minutes back. He could have easily attacked you."

Superman looks at me in surprise and I hold up my hands and shrug. "Guilty."

Batman is suddenly looming over me. "Did anyone even check him for weapons?"

"He's just a kid—"

"Assassins run young nowadays," Batman cuts him off again. He looks at me. "Stand up. Slowly."

I slowly get to my feet, hands still raised.

Batman looks over at Superman.

Superman blinks. "What, you want me to search him?"

Batman only stares at him.

Superman sighs. "Fine." He goes towards me, and I realize he's holding his breath. Oh yeah, I smell like garbage.

He pats me down and his eyes widen in surprise as he removes my utility belt. I see Batman's mouth tighten. Now suspicious, Superman scans me with his x-ray vision. He give me orders to remove every offending weapon he can find on me.

Groaning, I remove my grubby Star City clothes exposing my Robin uniform. I do as he says, making sure to only remove the weapons he identifies. In the end, my utility belt, the last of the money I had, my collapsible staff, all my smoke grenades, and two of my lock pick sets are on the table. Superman is studying my stuff while Batman is studying me.

He circles around me. "Who do you work for?"

Not in the least bit phased by his hoarse voice, I say, "Myself."

"Are you a mercenary then?"

"No."

"Why do you have so much cash to carry around?"

"It's mine. My dad gave it to me for emergencies."

"Really? And who is your dad? You said earlier that your parents know where you are."

I cock an eyebrow and say nothing.

"When Superman questioned you, you said you were a kid of an HA member. Who?"

I purse my lips. "I think it go better if I could talk to you alone. After all, you are my hero, Batman." I give him my biggest innocent gaze.

Superman's eyes grow suspicious. "Why Batman? He's not the friendliest."

I frown. "But he's the only one who's taken me seriously so far."

Superman turns a light pink but nods and exits the room.

Batman doesn't move. "Why is it you want to talk with me? Cut the crap."

I raise an eyebrow. "You wanted to know who my father was." I smile. "Sure the cameras are disabled?"

In response, Batman only takes off his cowl, revealing a young Bruce. "Talk."

I choke. "You crazy?" I look around quickly. "How did you know I knew your identity for real? I could have just been making it up!"

"You're a kid who's armed to the teeth and already knows the IDs of half the Heroic Alliance. And the HA guards it's secrets even more carefully than I do."

I snort. "Yeah, I don't think so. But I keep forgetting you're just starting out."

He makes a rolling motion with his hand. "So..."

I grin at him. "You're my dad."

Bruce freezes. He stares at me. I can tell he's searching for resemblances. We do look awfully similar, I must admit.

"Not by blood," I add, after I'm done watching him squirm.

Bruce frowns. His eyes are cold, like ice. "What do you mean? I don't even know you."

"But I know you," I say, smiling. "Because where I come from, you're my adopted father and I'm your partner in crime fighting, Robin." I gesture down at my uniform. "About four hours ago, I arrived in this world in a dumpster. From what I've been able to gather, this world is much more super powered centered. It also takes place about ten years in my world's past."

Bruce stares me down. I don't blink. I know the rules. Rule 93: If you blink first, you die first. I remember when I came up with that one. It used to be, "the one who blinks is the one who stinks," but Bruce made me change it. It's not a crime to rhyme.

"I believe you're telling the truth. Or you're much more clever than you seem."

"My real name is Dick Grayson. For all I know, I don't even exist in this world. But if I did, I would be about five-years-old and living in a circus in Romania."

Bruce blinks. Got him. "You're serious?"

"Yeah, I'm serious." I frown at him.

Bruce shakes his head in disbelief. "How did you even end up here?"

"From what my Batman was able to tell me before I got teleported, some dude named Metus reversed the world somehow. I was holding on to this magic egg thing," I hold up my hands to show him, "when whatever happened went down. The egg somehow made me the only person who remembers the original world."

Bruce nods, sweeping his cape around him as he starts to pace. "And this egg, where is it now?"

I wince. "Ah, you see, I don't know. When I woke up it was gone."

Bruce stops pacing and turns to look at me head on. He growls at me, though it doesn't have the same effect without the cowl, "What proof do you have that your story isn't some type of convoluted hoax?"

"Only the memories I have of my world. Which is how I knew everybody's identities."

Bruce nods, slowly. I feel odd, watching him like this. 21. He's only just old enough to drink. His face has fewer scars. His eyes are clouded with barely suppressed anger. When he was younger, he was angrier, more set out for revenge and brutal justice. It was that anger in his tone and glare that made people fear him. The quickness of his temper and his never ceasing scowl. The Bruce I know is older, mellowed (if you can call him that). He still evokes fear, but he also inspires people with his ability to stay calm in any situation and come up with spur of the moment plans.

"I'm going to check out your story. Run your face through some of my software. If you pop up with so much as a jaywalking fine, I'll destroy you."

I nod. "Okay."

Bruce studies me one last time before pulling up his cowl. "Well, I don't think you should tell any of these HA heroes your story. They're more inclined to locking away their problems than figuring them out."

"You want me to go back to the Cave with you," I say.

He pauses. "I forgot you would know about that. Yes. I think it would be best."

"I don't." Batman's database is limited since he's just starting out. This Heroic Alliance will have more information on the subjects I need.

"So you're going to make me come back to this glorified satellite to work with you?" Batman asks with distaste.

I shrug. "Yeah. And working as a team might be good for you too."

"You'll need a story to get yourself to stay here."

"Already got it covered," I say, smirking.

Batman's mouth twitches. "This I can't wait to see."

Batman opens the door and Superman half trips-half stumbles in. Apparently, he was trying to listen through the door.

He rubs the back of his neck. I don't think he heard anything. The walls of this place are lead lined. At least, the ones I knew were. "Are you done talking?"

Batman nods.

Superman gives a smile that seems to be that type of all-knowing adult smile. "And what'd you learn?" He must think any promise Batman to me is null and void since he's Superman.

Batman shakes his head. "I promised not to say." He turns his head slightly towards me.

I smile. "It's all worked out now. Because my father has finally accepted me."

Superman chokes. "Your...father?" He looks between me and Batman. "You're not serious..."

Batman looks a little uncomfortable. I bet he wasn't expecting me to pull that out.

It's true," I say, with a heavy sigh. "I've been bent on training all my life with my estranged father. There's nothing I want more than to fight crime by his side."

Superman is still stuck. "Father...?" He's still ping-ponging between me and Batman trying to figure out his age and then mine and then where they apparently intercept. "How old are you—?"

"As a sign of good faith towards your association and as a sort of test trial for me, he agreed to let me stay with you and train among your sidekicks." I've totally got him sold. "If you keep me safe and happy, he'll agree to join the Ju—Heroic Alliance. And if I do well and can keep up with the best, he'll take me on. It's a win-win for everybody." I shrug and smile good-naturedly. "What d'yah say?"

Superman looks from me to Batman and then back to me. I can tell Bats is impressed with my story.

Superman swallows his confusion. "Um, of course, Batman, we'd be honored to have your...son, work with us. You'll see that we're a serious organization and you would be a valued member of our team." He looks set in his decision, having turned my words into what he feels is his own idea.

Batman smoothly adds, "And of course I'll be by every once in a while to check up on him." And update me on his progress in finding a way home.

Superman nods seriously. "Of course. I'm sure we'll turn him into the finest sidekick you've ever seen."

I raise an eyebrow at that. I never said I needed to be taught. I said I needed the skills that I already had to be tested. Honestly. So full of himself.

Batman dips his head ever so slightly. "I'm leaving now. No need to show me out." He looks over at me.

I smile and raise an eyebrow.

I'm the only one who can read his exasperated look. He turns and stalks out of the room.

Superman gestures for me to stand. "Well, alrighty then. Come on then, Robin. I think you should...take a shower or something. And I don't know if that uniform can be saved..."

I look down at my grungy costume. Missing cape, it's torn, and covered in dirt and dried slime and other questionable things. I sigh. "I think you're right." I grab my utility belt and weapons however. "I'm keeping these though."

"Fine, fine." Superman guides me out of the room.

I follow him through the halls. Other HA members are there, and they study me curiously as we pass. I think I recognize some of them. But either their outfits are changed, or they're wearing the costume I know but are a totally different person. I feel something probe at my mind and my head swivels around to look at Martian Manhunter. He looks a little surprised but says nothing.

I follow Superman into a hallway that I assume are dorms for members who stay here all the time. At least, that's what they're used for on the Watchtower I know.

"This will be your room. You can clean up and...yeah. I hope it fits your needs. I'll have someone drop some clean clothes off." Superman hovers nervously in the doorframe.

I glance around the room. It's bugged. I turn and smile at Superman. "Thanks so much! It's perfect."

He nods. "Okay. You'll be our honored guest, but you'll also be treated like the other heroes in training we have here. Okay?"

"Sounds fine." I hope I can find some time and equipment to hack into their central computer.

"I'll send someone around early tomorrow to wake you up. Uh...night, Robin."

"Good night, Clark!" I say cheerily.

He smiles back uncertainly and gently closes the behind him. I hear it lock with a click. Not so much an honored guest yet then.

I sigh and get to work. First, I go into the bathroom and turn on the water, letting it run so it heats up. Then I go around and locate all the listening devices around the room. No cameras, which does earn them some points. But seriously, they must think I'm stupid. They hid the bugs in the most obvious places. Lampshade, bed frame, decorative pot...

I gather them on my nightstand but don't destroy them. Letting the enemy think they have the advantage gives you the advantage. Rule 139.

I take off my gross uniform and get in the shower. It feels so good to relax my tense muscles and get the layer of grime off my skin.

I close my eyes for a second and transport myself back to the manor. How did I get into this mess? I promised Bruce I would stay out of trouble. I'm more alone than ever now.

No, pull yourself together. I take a deep breath and let the steam clear my head. I've gotten into tough situations before. Albeit, I was never transported into some weird mixed up world before. But I'll have a heck of a story to tell Alfred when I see him again.

I freeze as I hear somebody openly the bedroom door and come into my room. My hand goes to the bird-a-rang I have that I always keep within an arm's reach. However, after a few seconds, the door closes and locks again.

I towel off and cautiously leave the bathroom. My Robin uniform is gone. Instead, neatly folded on the bed are some clean clothes. They thankfully left my combat boots and gloves.

I pick the clothes up and study them. They're somebody else's. I sniff them carefully and my nose wrinkles. Somebody with a pet. They smell like animal.

I change into them and snap my utility belt into place before getting into the bed. I feel sort of weird still wearing my belt, but I've been trained to do so while sleeping. I just never thought I'd have to use it while sleeping in a nice comfortable room. A stakeout, sure. I cross my arms behind my head and take a deep breath. I fall asleep in an instant.

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The author closes their laptop with a happy sigh, finally having at least one chapter uploaded. They raise their face up to the sky. A raindrop hits them, right on the nose. The author quickly slides the laptop back into its waterproof case and once more gets to their feet, tiredly wiping their forehead. They remove the large hunting knife from their belt and set forth once more, in search of answers...in search of the truth...in search of a signal...

*youwishyouwerethiscool


	9. Chapter 9

The author gets poked in the arm. Blearily, they raise their head. "Wha...?"

Reviewer stares at them. "Are you dead?"

"I mean, obviously not," the author replies, shifting uncomfortably. The author holds up a finger for patience. "It's just such a pain... My wifi doesn't work and I work from an iPad so I emailed myself the link by connection to my phone as a hotspot and then had to wait for my piece of junk computer to boot up/sounds like it's about to blast off before I could copy and paste from my email into the thing. It took me about thirty minutes which is why I've been putting it off..."

"..."

"..."

"But you're not dead so..."

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9

I wake up with a jolt. My mind is racing and my breath is fast. I had a nightmare, I'm pretty sure. But my memory of it is already fading fast.

I open my eyes and realize I'm staring at the underside of my bed. The carpet of this guest room is scratchy against my cheek. I'm not usually a restless sleeper, so the dream must have been bad for me to have fallen out of bed like this.

Untangling myself from my sheets, I get up and stretch. I glance over at the clock. 7:30 sharp. My mind immediately switched into automatic when I was exposed to a compromising situation. So I woke up at a safe time, daybreak. At least I think it's daybreak. After all, I am in space, and there are no windows in my bedroom/cell.

I get up and go over to study the bugs that are still on my nightstand. They're not too high tech, basic listening tools. Not even camouflaged. Great, so I can expect ten year old tech on top of all this?

I do some more stretches and go into the bathroom to rifle through the cabinets. A clean toothbrush and a comb are the rewards of my efforts. Once done, I'm feeling better than I have in a while. My heart is still beating a little quickly. I guess I'm still not over that nightmare.

There's a knock at the door suddenly. I turn away from the mirror and go into the bedroom. "Uh, it's locked." Not my fault. If they're expecting me to walk over and try to unlock it, they've got another thing coming.

There's a click and the door opens. What I see makes me do a double take. Superman...but no.

He's younger than Superman. Probably what, sixteen or seventeen? It's hard to tell. But he's definitely related somehow. Same face, same hair, same eyes. If I had just seen a profile, I would have thought he was Clark Kent. But I watch the way he stands, how his expression seems to just be a permanent scowl. He's definitely a moody teenager. How odd. My mind cycles through who he could possibly be. Nobody I've heard of. But there's only one thing he could be, after all...

"Are you Superman's clone?" I ask.

The guy blinks and he scowls at me. But I've seen worse. "What of it?"

"You guys just look really similar," I say with a shrug that shows childish innocence. That I didn't mean anything by it. That it was more an exclamation than a carefully deduced analysis.

"I get that a lot," he grunts. "Who are you?"

I blink at him and cross my arms. I think about what he must see. A scrawny short kid in a t-shirt and jeans. I've combed my hair back in the way I usually have it as Richard. My face says cocky rich kid even if my clothes don't. "I'm Robin. Didn't Superman tell you who I was?"

"Superman had to leave early this morning for an emergency in Taiwan. He told me to wake you up for breakfast as he was running out the door. He didn't say why or who or what you were though. Just that you'd be training with us from now on."

I see a light in his eyes. He doesn't usually talk so much. He's unsure of himself. Wow, he looks a lot like Superman. It's actually sort of weird. "Okay. So yeah, I'm Robin."

"What's your power set?" That's sort of blunt. But it's fine by me.

"They're hard to explain." Cryptic response, but what's he going to do? Glare me to death? I've trained myself to combat that technique, curtesy of living with the Batman.

"Whatever. Breakfast this way." He turns and leaves without so much as a backwards glance.

I follow quickly behind him. He doesn't say another word to me. But that's fine. I take the time to think.

This world is very different than the one I knew. Not only are these heroes new, the ones I'm familiar with are much younger. I study Superman's understudy. Does he exist in the world I know?

"I'm Superboy, by the way," he grunts. I'm beginning to see that's the way he communicates. "Or Connor Kent."

I raise an eyebrow at that. So he and Superman share a name? Interesting. Does the Superman in my world know he has a clone passing as his son?

We enter the dining hall, it's a bit of a disaster area. They obviously haven't worked out the whole food situation yet. The older heroes are running around, grabbing coffee and a quick bite before heading back out the door. Some are stopping to chat, but mostly it feels like a frenzy of activity.

Connor stops and looks back at me. "Food's over there." He gestures with his head at the line and then turns and walks in the opposite direction.

I'm a little peeved he just ditched me, but whatever. I need coffee.

I stand in line behind some other heroes. They glance at me and give me some odd looks. After all, I'm not dressed like a hero. I don't have a mask. I look like some middle school kid who stumbled into their secret space base. I ignore them and grab myself some fruit and pour myself some black coffee. Bats got me addicted to the stuff. Though, he usually forbids me from drinking it because it makes me jittery. But my body doesn't feel like it got a full night's sleep thanks to my nightmare. I'll take jittery over falling asleep in my food.

I scan the tables until I locate Superboy sitting next to some other teens. Here we go.

I weave my way through the crowd and put my plate down beside Connor. He gives me a look but I ignore him. "Hi! I'm Robin."

The other people at the table look at me. I study them, searching for a familiar face. No luck.

"Hi! You must be the new kid Wonder Woman told me about." She's got blonde hair and dark brown eyes with a tan face splattered with freckles. On first glance, I thought she was Kara, but her face is more square. And she's much more muscular. Kara's strong, but her physique doesn't show it as much as this girl's does. Not to mention this girl shows it off with a sleeveless tank top. She brushes her bangs out of her eyes and holds out her hand. I take it, smiling through her strong grip. "I'm Cassie. Uh, Wonder Girl."

"Nice to meet you," I say, giving her my suave smile. She blinks and blushes slightly.

Conner clears his throat. He's giving me the evil eye. Ah, I see. They're dating, huh? Probably best not to piss off Superman in training.

Cutting through the tension, the other boy at the table interrupts. "I'm Beast Boy. My real name is Garfield," he rolls his eyes, "but you can call me Gar. Or BB. I see my clothes fit you okay."

I look down at the clothes I'm wearing. "Yeah, thanks." So they're his. Okay...he must have some type of ability to do with animals. (Well duh, Beast Boy). He's a pretty strange looking kid anyways. He's thin and gangly but tall. His skin, eyes, and hair are green. His ears are slightly pointed and his incisors as he smiles at me are elongated. I'm guessing he's got some type of transmutation ability. Probably to turn into an animal. Still, he seems nice enough. Maybe only a year older than me.

The other girl at the table introduces herself. "I am called Starfire. On Earth, I am called Kory Anders. It is nice to meet you, young Robin."

My jaw clenches a little at the "young" part but I force a smile. "Nice to meet you too." She's obviously a Tamaranean, I can tell from both her accent and appearance. Orangish skin, staring green semi-glowing eyes. Her hair is long and a sort of reddish color that's hard to describe. She has a happy innocent expression on her face that reminds me sort of of M'gann.

"My name is Garth," the last boy says. He has an Atlantean accent. "I am the adopted son of the King of Atlantis. I am also known as Aqualad."

Whoa. It's Aqualad. But not... This boy doesn't look anything like my friend. His skin is pale and he has dark hair. But he has gills and the tattoos on his arms are unmistakeable. I weigh in my head the pros and cons of asking him if he knows Kaldur...

"Hey guys! Good morning! Uh, who's this?"

I hear a voice that I recognize and whip around. Well, looks like this world isn't totally coming to an end.

It's Zatanna Zatara. Daughter of the great magician himself. She's got crystal blue eyes and shining curly black hair. She's even wearing that magician outfit. I remember her from the incident a year back. I heard from Batman that her dad was totally freaking out about what happened and forbade her from doing any superheroing at all until she was twenty or something. Otherwise, she probably would have been on my team back home.

But her appearance also raises some new questions. First of all, she's the same age she was in my world. Which doesn't make any sense considering the heroes I've met so far are a lot younger than they were in my world. Obviously, this Metus guy screwed with way more than just time. But it does set my mind somewhat at ease to see someone so familiar just the way I remember them.

"Um, hello?"

I realize I've been staring at her for a while now. "Oh, sorry, I'm Robin. You're Zatanna, right?"

"Oh great, another fanboy," Garth says with a straight face. What it up with Atlantans and keeping their face straight?

Zatanna blushes. "Uh, yeah, that's me."

Great, now I'm embarrassed. "Uh yeah, sorry. I've uh...seen you on tv."

"Okay..."

Got to recover from that one. "So this is the whole team?" Nice. Very smooth, Robin.

"Not quite," Garfield says. "We're still missing our fearless leader, Impulse."

That name throws me through a loop. "Impulse?"

"Come on, you've heard of him, right? He's the first sidekick ever! He started even before Garth. He's always late though, even though he's so fast."

I chuckle at that while the others laugh. That sounds a lot like—

"Morning guys, sorry I'm late!"

—Wally?

My mouth actually drops open as I swivel around to see my best friend skidding to a stop beside us. Same flaming red hair. Same motor mouth sucking in food like a fat marathon runner sucking in air. Same Wally. "Who's this?"

The moment I meet his eyes, I see the difference. Gone is his carefree, dopey attitude. It's replaced with something far more serious. It's the gaze of someone who struggles every day. The only time I ever saw Wally look like that was on the day of his father's trial.

"Wally West," I manage to say, both sad and confused.

He's pretty confused too. "No, that's my name. Who are you? And how do you know my name?" He looks freaked. "You don't go to my school do you?"

"I'm...Robin. Do you still live with your parents?" I don't care if I'm screwing with the story I made up about myself, I have to know.

Wally winces but quickly recovers. "Of course, I'm only fifteen, after all." And then he quickly changes the subject. "Why do you want to know?"

I smile at him. "Just curious." I am going to have a talk with the Flash about this. It doesn't matter if he is the Wally I know or not. He's my best friend and I can't watch him suffer. "So you're Impulse."

"Yup." He squeezes in between Zatanna and Kory across from me. He glances at their plates. "Are you lovely ladies willing to sacrifice some of your meals for the needy?"

Zatanna rolls her eyes and Kory blinks. Kory's the one who replies. "Don't you have a girlfriend? Why are you referring to us as lovely?"

Wally huffs. "Just being nice. And she's not here right now anyways. You ladies have the Wallman all to yourselves."

Kory blinks again and Zatanna snickers. Garfield is the one who finally offers Wally some of his breakfast.

It's funny that the Wally in this world is just as bad at picking up girls as the Wally I know. But apparently he has a girlfriend, which is odd. I'll have to look into that. See if she exist in my world. I've got a feeling it takes a one in a million girl to be suitable for Wally's tastes. (And that taste includes being able to stand his eating and talking habits).

"My dad said that he's the son of some hero they want to join the HA," Zatanna says. "We have to babysit him and let him train with us."

I scoff. "Babysit? You're not that much older than me."

"Oh, come on, you've gotta be like, ten or something right?" Cassie smirks.

I clench my jaw and glare at my plate. Calm yourself, Rob. You need to get them to underestimate you. That way they'll let you have free reign. Even so... "I'm fourteen."

Silence meets this. "No...really?"

"Yes!" I angrily stab my grapefruit, imagining it's Cassie's head. "I am!"

"Chill out, dude," Wally says. "You're just small is all. I'm sure you've got some awesome powers, though."

I resist rolling my eyes. Ugh. "What if I told you I don't have any powers at all?"

Wally's smile disappears. "I would want to know why the heck you've been put on my team. This isn't a joke, kid. We do serious work."

"Just because I don't have any powers doesn't mean I can't totally pone you all," I mutter, scooping up some of my fruit.

Connor growls. "What was that, punk?"

I stick my tongue out at him.

"Superboy? Everything okay over here?"

We all look up to see the Man of Steel himself hovering towards us. Behind him is the Dark Knight, gliding across the floor like an enormous shadow.

"Oh my god...it's Batman," Garfield breathes.

"He's real?"

The pair come up to our table. Other heroes give them a wide birth. I can see on their faces they're trying hard not to bump into Batman or Superman.

"I see you've all met Robin," Superman says with a tentative smile.

"He claims he's fourteen," Cassie says, raising an eyebrow.

Superman looks at me in surprise. "You are?"

I grip the knife in my hand and casually throw it up in the air, catch it by the handle, and impale it with a thud into the table. "Yup."

Superman pales. "Uh, right, of course." He turns to Batman. "Can't you control him?"

Batman says nothing. I can tell he's amused though. After all, I just scared Superman. But that's stupid considering how he's invincible and could hardly be injured by a butter knife. Maybe one coated in Kryptonite, but he doesn't need to know about that certain element in my belt.

"How are you, Robin?" Batman asks me. Everyone winces at his voice.

"Great," I say.

"I need to talk with him." Batman turns and starts walking away from the table.

Kory stares at me. "He is your father?"

Garth chokes and looks at me in a new light.

I stand. "Be right back." I get up and weave through the crowd, following Batman into the hall.

The door to the dining area closes and we're encased in silence.

I study him. He's the same man I know. But...he's also a stranger at the same time. He looks at me.

"You know me well, then?" He states.

I nod. "You and I could read each other easily. What's the news? Did you find anything?"

"I have a lead on a villain named 'Metus'. Him being an alien makes this a little more difficult. Have you discovered anything yet?"

"I've only been outside my room for ten minutes."

"I thought you said you were good."

"I am, but not that good." I wave a hand. "I'll have any information that the Alliance has by tonight." I look at him seriously. "So, do you believe my story? Is that why you're helping me?"

Batman crosses his arms. "I'm not sure. I researched your name a little. Richard Grayson died when he was a baby of pneumonia. The rest of his family died about six years back in a trapeze accident."

I feel an icy fist clench my heart. "What...?" I stumble until my back's against the wall. "They're...dead...?" This confirms it. The adult heroes are the only ones who are younger. Everyone else is the same. I'm not a child in this world. Instead, I died as a baby years ago. My parents died in the same accident they did in my world at apparently the same time it happened in my world. I take a shaky breath. It's like I'm being told they're dead all over again. If I close my eyes, I can smell the blood...feel it on me...

"Robin?"

I look up at Batman with clear eyes, ignoring the tears as they fall down my face. "I'm okay."

"Obviously not." He crouched down in front of me. He doesn't touch me, but he looks unsure. His Batman voice is gone and I'm talking to Bruce. "What is it?"

I give a breathy laugh. "Some part of me...some part of me hoped they were alive. So I could see them one last time...say goodbye..." I stare at the floor. "I watched them die. The fell...right in front of me...I watched...my mother...my father...they hit the ground...there was so much screaming and blood...so much blood..."

All at once, I'm being embraced. I freeze in surprise. But I suddenly feel like a child in my guardian's arms. I remember back to when I was eight. How I would wake up screaming and shaking and he would always be there and stay with me...

He awkwardly pats my back and doesn't say anything. But I know what he's thinking. He's remembering his own parents.

I sniff and nod. "I'm okay."

He pulls away and looks at me uncertainly. I'm reminded he doesn't know me. I wipe the tears off my face, angry with myself for loosing control.

"I believe you," he says, his voice barely above a whisper.

I force a laugh. "That's a relief."

"Even without...all that...I believed you. The way you look at me and talk to me. It's obvious you know me somehow. And you're well trained. You analyze everything very carefully. I've watched the way you carry yourself. And your utility belt is much too similar to mine to be a mere copy. You're my sidekick, through and through. I wish I could remember you...I'm sorry, Robin. I will help you fix this." Conviction returns to his voice and all at once he's the Batman again. "And maybe there is a part of me that feels this is not how the world is suppose to be."

I smile for real this time and nod. "Thank you."

"Good luck at training today. I'm sure you'll knock them dead."

"They make fun of my age again and I just might."

Batman cracks a smile which he quickly smothers. "Your tears have dried. Should we head back in."

I take another deep breath so my voice doesn't shake. "Yeah. Okay. Let's go."

The other young heroes, I notice, treat the older heroes with a degree of respect I've never seen before from them. I mean, we did respect our mentors, but there's no friendly banter, no teasing, just business. It's almost a type of tension between everyone that both young and old can't wait until they're separate again.

Batman left after I went back to breakfast. I was able to take a few mouthfuls of food before Wally decided we were all going to training.

Superman, Flash, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman decided to accompany us. I got the feeling that this didn't happen often when nobody said a word the whole way to the training room.

The Watchtower gym is similar to the one I knew back in the Hall. It actually makes me nostalgic. And it also makes me think about all the friends I know who aren't here. Wally and Zantanna give proof that the others probably do exist in this world. I'm curious as to why they aren't here right now.

Wally isn't the one talking right now, which is a bit of a shock. Instead, Garfield is running his mouth, commenting on how Cassie's hair looks like a poodle's backside or something. She makes a series of painful sounding threats to him, but it isn't until Connor gives him a glare that he finally stops. And turns his attention to me.

"I can't believe the Batman's your dad!" He sounds like an excited little kid. Which is funny considering he's older than me. "Is he really part bat?"

I cackle which causes everyone to jump. "Would that make me one quarter bat?"

He sniffs the air. "No, you don't smell like animal."

"The young warrior boy was prepared to challenge me," Wonder Woman says in her proud voice, looking down at me. "He must be confident in his abilities."

"He told me his powers were to irritate people," Flash says, remaining stoic, weirdly enough.

I hold up my hands. "I only use my powers for good."

Zatanna coughs. "I was thinking, my dad says you guys are having trouble figuring out who Batman is. Couldn't you take a DNA sample from him?" She nods at me.

Superman and Flash look at each other.

Garth frowns. "Nobody thought of that? In Atlantis, we would have—"

"No, it's not that." Flash sighs. "I already took a blood sample. According to our data bases, he doesn't exist. He has no birth records, no baptisms, family, nothing. And we're already limited because he's a minor so no federal records or legal charges, and we don't have a real name."

I smirk. "How do you know Robin's not my real name?"

"Even if it is, we'll need a last name."

"He seemed to know an awful lot about Wally," Cassie says.

Garth continues, "He seems to know much more than he is saying. How do we know he is not simply a spy for this Batman?" He directs his words mostly to Aquaman, as if waiting for approval and knowing he'll receive it.

Aquaman nods. "Good point, m'boy." He looks at Superman. "You never explained to us why we let this boy into our ranks."

"It's simply because he knows too much. He knew where to find us and he knows everyone's secret IDs."

I feel a sudden pressure on my mind. Grimacing, I slam a mental wall of emotion down in my head. I turn and glare at the wall.

"Uh, is something wrong, little Robin?" Kory asks.

I just glare at the wall. "You'll have to do better than that," I say.

The older and younger heroes look at me in confusion. And then in surprise when Martian Manhunter appears where I was staring.

"As I thought. You have incredible mental capacity. You've been trained in mental combat." His mellow voice seems to vibrate deep in his throat.

I shrug it off. Actually, besides the stuff I learned from the Bat, MM gave me a few tips of his own. I asked him after the whole Raina-telepath fiasco last year. "J'onn J'onz. Also known as John Jones."

Flash holds up a hand. "See what I mean?"

Superman suddenly raising his hand to his ear. He's silent for a moment before turning to the other heroes. "Large tsunami hitting western Japan."

The older heroes nod. I wait for them to turn to us, and give instruction. Instead, they issue orders to each other as they leave us standing there, waiting.

The door closes and we're doused with silence once more.

"Alright, line up," Wally says, turning his back to where his uncle exited. "We've got training to do."

"What, that's it?" I say, slightly disgusted. "You guys don't even get acknowledged? You don't even ask if you could help?"

"They don't need our help," Connor says gruffly, head slightly turned away. "And they don't want it."

"We're still in training," Cassie says, with a light laugh. She punches her fist into her palm. "One day we'll be able to serve."

"In Atlantis, the day we fight and defeat our mentors is the day we are recognized," Garth says. He gestures to his arms. "That is how I received these marks of bravery and manhood. But to accompany my king, this is an honor only the highest ranking of soldiers can attempt."

"We aren't strong enough anyways," Zantanna says, with a shrug.

"Enough talking," Wally barks, obviously irritated with the conversation. "This isn't a dinner party. Let's go. New kid, you're sitting out. I'll test you personally later. For now you're in the reserves."

"How can I be the reserves of the reserves," I mumble loudly.

"I heard that!"

"You were suppose to!"

Still, I sit back and watch them go through the motions. They do a lot of team building exercises and regular exercise as well. Watching them reminds me of my old team back home. Except these guys look way better trained. They've been at this for a long time.

Still, as I watch, I become nostalgic again. Wonder Girl is Supergirl, running and mostly relying on strength. Zantanna is Raven with her bag of tricks to back up the others. The new Aqualad is basically the same as the old one except with a bigger ego and a more pronounced accent. Kid Flash is not Wally West, oddly enough, but rather Beast Boy as he cracks jokes at the others expense. Impulse is someone else entirely.

And of course Starfire is just like—

I freeze as suddenly my mind draws a blank. And trust me when I say that never happens to me.

Starfire is just like...she's an alien...same butchered English...same open expression...who is it?

I grip my head. Why can't I remember? I remember everyone else on my team, don't I? KF, Supergirl, Speedy, Raven, Aqualad...who am I missing? Not just an alien...someone else too...

I'm slowly panicking. My heart is thudding like a drum though I'm sitting still. My head is aching with the effort of trying to remember.

I close my eyes. Think, Robin. You just met them a few weeks ago. You literally saw them yesterday.

"Uh, birdman? You okay? Got low blood sugar or something?" BB is standing over me, looking concerned.

"Fine," I choke out. I feel my hands shaking. Showing this weakness is so unusual for me. What else don't I remember? Suddenly another cold shot goes through me. What else don't I remember?

My name is Richard John Grayson-Wayne. My parents are Mary and John Grayson and Bruce Wayne. My birthday is April 1st which is also the day my parents died. I'm Robin. Bruce is Batman. I was with my team when the egg suddenly went off. Batman...Batman called me? Maybe? Or did I just imagine that? And before that I was talking with Wally about Barbara who...was she hurt? Something happened...an accident, I think. And then Supergirl came in and told us that someone had made dinner...who was it? I can't remember! Why can't I remember?

I feel my breathing hitch. There's no mental block like when I can't remember the right English term. There's no wall that puts the memory on the tip of my tongue. It's blank. It's gone.

At this time, I'm aware the others are gathering around. They sound concerned so I must look pretty bad.

"Robin? What's wrong with you?"

It's Wally's voice and the strange familiarity of it that allow me to raise my head and say, "My life...it's slowly unraveling. I think my death is catching up to me." Just like what Batman said. Their world's Richard Grayson is dead.

And I'm afraid this Richard Grayson is next.

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*Laughs uncharacteristically guiltily* as followers get notified new chapter was posted and don't even remember the story

Suddenly wishing didn't have such an overconfident name when politely asking to read and review...

*youwishyouwerethiscool


	10. Chapter 10

Special thanks to **Sierra Evans (Guest)** who poked me. Yeah, I needed that. And thanks to all those you sent me great reviews like **HetaliaIShipIt** and **Pipe Dream**.

I'm posting this one quickly but I wouldn't really get used to it...sorry. My humble spirit is dead.

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10

Everybody probably thinks I'm crazy. I think I'm crazy.

Somebody, I think Connor, carried me to the med bay where Zatanna tried to scan me magically to see what was wrong. The problem is, they can't fix what's wrong with me. My charade is over. It's time to bring out the big boys and do this the right way.

I turn and give Wally a hard look. "Give me your League—Alliance communicator or whatever you call it."

Wally tries to play dumb. "We can't contact the heroes while they're on a mission. That goes against protocol."

"Don't give me that, Wally West," I nearly shout at him. "I know you have one. The heroes in this world may be rude and egotistical, but they're not stupid enough to leave a bunch of kids in charge of their secret space base without a means of checking up on them!"

"Sheesh, take mine," Cassie tosses me her communicator.

I grab it and take out my gloves from within my pocket. Putting them on, I pull out a USB adapter and plug it into the communicator. A few seconds later, I'm once again hooked into the system on this world.

Wally seems to catch onto what I'm doing. "Hey!" But then it's followed by, "What are you doing?"

Huh, never-mind.

"I'm contacting the whole Alliance and issuing a Status Alpha Emergency Protocol Alert."

"Whoa, that sounds serious," Garfield says.

Garth frowns. "Who gave you the authorization to do that, Earth dweller?"

"On my world, I'm one of the few people who can."

I think Kory might have choked. "Your world! Where are you from?"

"Not this place," I say with a grunt. "Our internet security is much better." I easily bypass the security and grab the ears of all the bigs in the Alliance at the same time. They'll be here in ten minutes.

Connor growls. "Explain. Now."

"Sorry, I'm sort of in a hurry. Memories disappearing and all," I say. Rule 19: remember not to forget. Great. Thanks for that one Bats.

I get up, and though I'm still a little wobbly, I manage to head out of the medical area towards the conference room. The others half follow half run after me, totally confused.

On the way there, my phone rings. Jingle bells, Batman smells...

I swear in Romani and pick it up. "Hello?"

"Robin?"

"Batman? How'd you get this number?" This is the same ringtone used for when Batman directly calls me using the Manor's phone. My phone recognized it, hence the ringtone. Still, I definitely was not expecting that.

"I'm Batman. I traced the signal of the device that just sent out emergency messages to every hero in the Alliance." Huh. I had forgotten my phone is now a League communicator so it must have automatically connected to the wireless system supported by my gloves.

I wince at his angry voice. "I didn't send one to you." I quickly glance at my wrist. I didn't right?

"I was with an Alliance member at the time."

I can't resist. "So Wonder Woman?"

"How'd you—"

"I wouldn't try it, B. It won't work." I open the door to the conference room. "Trust me. And you should probably head over too. We've got a bit of an emergency."

"Why, what's wrong? Have you found Metus?

"Nope. But I might forget about him."

"What...?"

"Just get here. I don't like explaining myself more than I have to," I snap. Usually I wouldn't dare talk to Batman like that. But this Batman is different. He so much younger. It's funny how right now I feel like the experienced one.

"Robin, I swear I'm not about to put up with this, dude." Wally is a blur and suddenly is in front of me, blocking my way.

I've had about enough. "You're limping on your left side. And I know why." I get in his face. "Chill out and have a seat. I know you better than you think I do."

Wally glares at me, his green eyes hard. I feel odd, out of costume. My eyes feel vulnerable without my mask. But I force them to maintain my glare.

Wally's eyes go back and forth quickly like he's thinking something over. "Fine." He sits down. I didn't think he would take long come to a conclusion.

"You all can sit down too," I say to the others. Superboy, Wonder Girl, Zatanna, Beast Boy, Aqualad 2.0, and Starfire all reluctantly follow their leader's lead and have a seat.

Green Lantern, oddly enough, is the first one to arrive, closely followed by scary Flash. I notice Flash simply states, "Impulse," to Wally before having a seat.

Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, and some lady with hawk wings come in next. I run a scan on the lady while we wait. The adults all talk in hushed voices, obviously wondering what is going on.

Wonder Woman is next to arrive, closely followed by Batman (which I think is just a little too convenient). While the former immediately heads towards the other Alliance founders, Batman stops and makes eye contact with me.

I'm slouched in my chair, farthest from everyone else so I can watch them. I made sure my back was to a wall so nobody can sneak up behind me. I'm aware the air vent on the ceiling is five meters to my one o'clock.

"Batman?" Aquaman states. "What are you doing here?"

Batman turns his head ever so slightly. "I was invited."

That seems to work for them.

My eyes flicker back to my screen. The winged lady is Hawkgirl, also known as Shayera Hol. She's a Thanagarian. So I guess there's also a planet out there with that name. She's got red hair that mostly covered by the winged helmet on her head. Her outfit is sleeveless though not at bad as Wonder Woman's. Her feathery wings are large, almost the length of her body. In her hand is a spikes mace that she's swinging around casually. I bet she can do some serious damage with that.

Superman is the final person to arrive. He flies in, cape billowing, looking slightly ruffled and majorly confused. "I'm here. What's the emergency?" He takes in the room, including Batman standing in the corner opposite of me, the rest of the Alliance, and the mini Alliance members.

"What's the emergency?" Green Lantern repeats with annoyance. "Didn't you call us here?"

"No."

"Then who did?" Wonder Woman asks. "Is this an enemy trap?"

"No," I say, not glancing up from my screen. "It's not. I called you all here."

"Him?" Green Lantern squints at me. "Wasn't he the brat we picked up in Gotham? Batman's son?"

I sigh, still typing. I have to record everything I know from the past several weeks before I forget. But they also probably have a lot of questions. "Okay, look. I haven't been entirely honest with you guys." I close my holo-screen for the moment. I feel so odd, sitting here in front of all these costumed heroes with no cape, no mask.

Superman crosses his arms, glaring from me to Batman. "You lied to us? You're not even his son are you?"

"No, not biologically," I sit up in my chair and adopt my all business voice. "My name is Richard Grayson and I'm from an alternative world."

Silence. Then Beast Boy: "Wait...whaaaat?"

I take a deep breath. "So the world I come from there's a Justice League, not a Heroic Alliance. And Batman is in charge of it with Superman."

The two men in question look over at each other, obviously trying to figure out in what crazy world would they work together.

I continue, "In that world, I'm Batman's sidekick, Robin. I'm also the leader of the young Justice League team, which includes a different Aqualad—" I point at Garth, "—a different Wally known as Kid Flash—" I point at him next, "—Supergirl—" Superboy visibly stiffens, "—Raven, Speedy, and..." I grab my head again and swear under my breath. "Two...others..."

"You mumbled something about that earlier," Wally says accusingly. "That you're forgetting someone. And that 'your death is catching up to you'?"

Batman turns his head, voice betraying his alarm. "You said what?"

I forgot that he doesn't know much more than the others. "What feels like yesterday to me, I woke up in this world after..." I pause for a second and bring up my holo-screen. "We...were on a mission. Batman and most of the League were off-world. My team went on a mission get an unidentified meteor falling in Star City." I scratch the back of my head. "I believe that when I picked up the egg it activated somehow."

"Wait, an egg?" Wonder Girl interrupts.

I ignore her. "When I was studying it back at base, Batman called to warn me to stay away from the egg. He said they had been drawn off world by a villain who goes by the name Metus. That something had gone down and the only thing that could stop him was here on earth with no way to get it to him. Then something weird started to happen." This is where things get a little fuzzy. "The next thing I know I'm waking up in a dumpster in Star City next to a burger joint where the League HQ used to be."

"You expect us to just believe all this," Hawkgirl says shaking her head.

"I don't see why not," I say. "It's all true. I know you all better than some brat off the street should."

"I believe him," Batman says slowly.

"You were the one keeping this from us too," Superman says angrily.

I hold up a hand, silencing the Man of Steel. "I asked him to. I thought you would interfere with my investigation. But recently, it occurred to me that I'm slowly starting to forget my life in the other world." I grind my teeth together. "So my hand is forced." I bow my head. "I need your help. To put the world back to normal and stop whatever plan Metus has."

"Metus," Wonder Woman muses. "It means fear in Latin."

Batman uses his semi-amused voice at her. "I thought you were Greek."

She blushes. "You think because I am an Amazon I know no other language?"

"Let's cool our heads," Aquaman says. "I'm sure the Batman meant no offense."

Batman doesn't respond to that. Instead he turns to me. "What exactly is it you have in mind?"

I chew my lip. "You said you had a lead on Metus?"

"Turned out to be a dead end." Batman stares at me hard. "You said you would find all the information you needed before the day was done."

I glance around guilty. "Yup. I've gone through the Alliance's files. There's no adult super villain alien who goes by the name Metus."

Immediately uproar meets this.

"You hacked our system?"

"I can't believe this!"

"Who does this kid think he is?"

Batman's the only one who catches my word choice. "No adult?"

I look up at him slowly. "He's seventeen. At least, on Earth."

Wally laughs harshly. "The alien who outsmarted earth's finest is a teenager?"

I frown at him. "It's happened before." I leave out the part of it being me (besides the alien part, that's new).

"Who is he?"

"Hang on," Superman says. "Let's slow down here. Right now, all the top superheroes of earth are sitting in here with no one out there protecting the people. We don't have time for missions from a kid will may or may not be telling the truth."

"I do agree on that fact, Superman," King Orin says.

My mouth falls open. "Seriously? The fate of the world is at state here!"

"Your world perhaps." Green Lantern says. "I deal with a lot of different worlds all the time. Yours is not the only one."

"Mine isn't just another distant planet. It's a place where you guys exist. Where I exist! This isn't right!" I got to say, I'm pretty blown away by their attitude towards this.

"Perhaps we should have Batman handle this," King Orin says. "He believes the lad, and he knows him well."

"Makes sense to me," Flash adds.

My mouth is open. "With all of your help, I could have been done already! But your waitlisting me because my world isn't important enough?"

"You can have the sidekicks' help," Hawkgirl suggests.

"There you go, Impulse and the others will aid you." Superman grins. "That works, right?"

I don't have the words.

"Actually, I need Aqualad in Atlantis. Something has recently arisen to my attention."

"And Wonder Girl and I have...an event to go to," Wonder Woman says.

"Zatara told me to tell you that his daughter is not to participate in anything outside of training," Martian Manhunter says in a calm voice.

"Who's next?" I nearly shout. "I could go out into Gotham and recruit sewer rats more willing to help than you guys!"

Starfire raises a finger. "I am scheduled to leave for my home planet tomorrow."

That leaves me with Batman, Superboy, messed up Wally, and Beast Boy. So much for everything. Nice knowing you, world.

Batman clears his throat slightly. I can tell he knows how stressed out I am. "Robin came a long way and wants to find a way home. You're really going to abandon him?"

"There are plenty of other people out there we can't abandon," Flash snaps. "We don't have time for side trips or personal affairs."

"You think this is personal?" I say, my temper rising.

Flash crosses his arms. "Of course. You want to see your family obviously. But as heroes, we have a duty to more than just our family."

That makes me angry. Something inside me breaks and all at once I want Flash to know how wrong he is. "Is that why you let your nephew be abused everyday?"

Wally is immediately on his feet and he looks like he could kill me.

Flash looks totally blown away. "W-what?"

I point at Wally. "There's a Kid Flash in my world too. He's my best friend. And his father was put away just a few months back for child abuse. Are you really so blind? Wally's limping!"

Flash looks at Wally's leg and back at me. He looks at Wally's face. "Kid, is this tr—"

"Why the —why should you care? You've never cared before." Wally's lip curls. Obviously, this bothers him seriously. He turns to his uncle and it's like nobody else exists. "All you ever did was threaten me when my grades were dropping to take me off the team. Tell me that if I couldn't keep up I'd be left behind in the dust. When you saw my bruises, you told me to just hit back. But I can't hit back!" Wally's voice is rising. "I CAN'T! Because he's my dad..." His voice drops suddenly to a whisper. "Because I'm scared..."

Barry Allen grips his nephew's shoulders and pulls him into a hug.

Everyone looks alarmed and shocked. This sort of thing, you don't expect to happen among super powered heroes.

One by one, everyone ushers out. Barry takes Wally off to go talk with him. Soon, it's only me, Connor, Garfield, and the Bat sitting in the conference room (well standing in Batman's case). The silence is deafening.

"I didn't know," Connor mutters after a while. "We were his team. We saw him everyday. And we didn't figure it out."

Gar is shaking. "Horrible. Why would that happen? And to Wally? He's smart. He's athletic. He has a girlfriend. He's a superhero! Shouldn't that makes him exempt from this?"

"Why drop the bombshell?" Batman says, his voice echoey like a cave.

"It was something that was bothering me," I say. My voice sounds like his and it scares me. "I had to. I snapped. This world is so wrong. I can feel it like a thrumming in my chest. Maybe I thought I could fix it a little..."

Batman is quiet for a long time.

I stare out the window into space. Stars and planets line the horizon. My world...yeah right. Is it really still out there? Have I lost it? Is this all that's left?

"Well," Batman says gruffly, making the three of us sidekicks look at him. "Let's go find Metus and fix this mess."

I put my face in my hands and force a shaky, "Thank you."

1010101010101010101010101010101010101010

I enjoy putting my own villains in. The next chapter might be too rough on your little souls, so I'll give you some time to R&R for this chapter first! (Ha, like what I didn't there?)

*youwishyouwerethiscool


	11. Chapter 11

The author lays dead, head on table, sweating mingling with blood around their motionless body.

Shadow:This seemed to work last time so lets try it again *pokes author*. Dude, you still writing?

Sastt:You know there are fans waiting on your virtual doorstep for yo- *loud banging* That would be them! So I don't think your door can take much more o- *crash* *cheers flood the room* . . . Uh . . . *fans stream in* . . . I think that was your door.

Author slowly raises their head and squints at screen, eyes opening for the first time in months. "Oh...I got some reviews." The author's fingers slowly move across the keys.

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11

I hope things start working in my favor. Ever since that bright blue, fuzzy egg hit me in the face, I've had the worst luck. Hopefully, my luck will change on this mission.

Connor and Garfield open their eyes. "Whoa..."

We're in the Bat-Cave. Batman definitely took some convincing, but I knew that I would need the tech if I was going to pull my plan off. Still, Superboy and Beast Boy both had to be blindfolded and led down a convoluted route before finally arriving here.

Batman does _not_ look happy. "Do not touch anything. Don't stand over there. Robin, get the green kid away from there. Don't pick that up!"

Connor quickly puts down the freeze gun. "This is your hideout?"

Batman turns away grumbling to himself.

I smile weakly. "Well of course. A bat cave for the Batman? Makes sense, right?"

Garfield jumps off the platform and changes into a green bat. He's the first animal morpher I've seen in person. It's incredible how he's able to change his body mass and shape so naturally.

Gar flaps around our heads a few times before landing and shifting back. "Whoo! This place is awesome!"

"Don't do that again," Batman says. I'd forgotten how he used to be afraid of bats. Guess he hasn't _quite_ conquered that fear yet.

"Why are we here?" Connor asks. "I mean, it is cool, but why?"

"Because for this to work, I need resources, suits, and a certain person."

"Who?"

"Bruce Wayne." I'm leaning over the Bat-computer, but I see Batman stiffen imperceptibly out of the corner of my eye. "He lives not to far away from here. I know him pretty well back home."

"What makes you think he'll help you in this world?" Garfield looks over my shoulder, trying to see what I'm doing.

"It's complicated," I say. I hit enter and the profile for Benjamin Wilcox comes up on the screen.

Batman is suddenly at my side. "What do you need Bruce Wayne to do?"

I smile. "Metus, in this world, is a man who goes by Benjamin Wilcox. He lives in Gotham. Ever heard of him?"

Batman's frown deepens as he says, "He's a rising billionaire. Nobody has ever seen his face. He's very against publicity. No criminal record."

"He also appeared extremely recently, no one knows how he gets his money, and according to the records providing to me by the NSA, he's not even eighteen yet."

"You hacked the NSA!" Garfield laughs. "Nice."

"What makes you sure he's the guy?" Connor asks.

I pause and look up at the information on the screen. There's barely anything there, not even a profile picture. "I...I'm not really sure actually. More of gut feeling than anything. He fits the description of a fun-loving alien. Often aliens come to Earth, make a lot of Earth money, and then leave without a trace. All as an extended vacation."

"So what the deal?" Garfield asks. "How are we going to bag him?"

"If he hates publicity, it's not like he's going to be easy to get to," Connor observes.

Batman seems to have caught on. After all, he is the reason. "Every billionaire and millionaire within four hundred miles of Gotham will be attending Bruce Wayne's welcome home party."

"And it would look too suspicious if he weren't to attend," I conclude with a smile. "So odds are, our mystery man named Metus is going to be there tonight at ten."

"One problem though," Connor says. "We are not stupid rich. There's no way we're getting into this party."

"That, my friend," I say with a smirk, "is the easy part."

My plan isn't all that bad. A lot of it is going off what I know about Wayne parties, relying on my acting ability, and trusting Connor and Gar to not mess it up.

"Can we maybe go over the plan one more time," Gar asks.

How reassuring.

We're sitting in a limo that we ordered online. Came with a chauffeur and everything. I love the Internet.

I make sure the separation glass is rolled up all the way between us and our driver before speaking.

"Connor and I will go in through the main entrance with me posing as a rich politician's son, and Connor as my bodyguard. You, Beast Boy, will sneak in as some type of animal and search for Metus while keeping an eye on our exit. Batman will be our eyes and ears from above, and contact us if anything goes wrong. Got it?"

"Yeah okay, I think I'm good," Garfield nods slowly. While Superboy and I are dressed up, he's still wearing his outfit that changes with him when he turns into an animal. It's purple and black and reminds me of a scuba suit, but whatever works.

Connor huffs. "I can't believe you got Bruce Wayne to give you an invitation."

I shrug. Honestly, all I did was ask Batman for one while the others were changing. It took him ten seconds to print one out.

"Security at the door will be tough to get through, so watch out," I say to Connor. "Let me do the talking. Stand there and look threatening. Maybe do that thing with your face..."

He gives me a death stare.

"Yeah, that's the one." I quickly look out the window. It feels so weird to be going home. The party is being held at Wayne Manor.

The limo stops and Connor and I get out. Garfield will go a little farther before getting out. Then we told the limo guy to go ahead and leave. We're planning to catch a ride with the Batman. (We didn't tell limo guy that part. Already he was giving us some seriously judgmental looks being three kids—one of whom is green—about to go to an adult party. But we're paying him $300 an hour, so it's not like he's about to say anything).

"Act like you belong," I say. "And try to look like you're guarding me."

Connor hisses back, "What from?"

"Who knows. Now quiet. It's showtime." I throw on my best smile and stroll up to the security guard at the door.

She gives us a once over, noting my age and my large friend. "Invitation?"

I pull it from my pocket and hand it to her. While she reads it, I get out my phone and browse it causally. Still no signal.

"You're Reed's son?"

I roll my eyes. "Uh, _yeah_."

She studies me before sighing. I think she mutters, "What is this world coming to," before handing me back my invite.

I snatch it away from her and stalk off, putting as much irritating rich brattiness as I dare into my walk trying not think about the taser at my back.

Connor sniffs beside me. "You did that almost too well."

I look at him out of the corner of my eye. "Keep quiet."

Inside, I have to keep Connor from totally blowing it. He's way too wide-eyed and his guard is so far down its halfway to China. Anybody could have plainly seen that he wasn't a bodyguard at all.

But it is a Bruce Wayne party.

There's fountains of wine, sparkling lights, plenty of women of all facets of life, and people so rich that they smell like the scent you get when you hold coins in you hands for too long.

"Hey, keep an eye out for Metus." Maybe reminding him about the mission will make him stop looking like an awed child at a circus. (I know what they look like).

But I know he can't help it. It's hard to resist the atmosphere, the music, the laughter, the mood. Something about a Wayne party makes you forget about the world outside the white columns and grand staircases and crystal chandeliers. Like you've stepped into a different dimension.

I know. I've felt it's affects first hand. One of the first times I attended a Bruce Wayne party myself...

I was ten years old at the time. I had been Robin for a while and was feeling pretty confident in my abilities and myself in general. My cockiness had returned and I felt more secure in my developing mentor/father figure relationship with Bruce I was building. As far as I was concerned I had it all.

Few things can make me angry like bringing up my parents. But that night, the night of my first in house party, I was so mad, I was sure I was going to blow the whole thing and Robin butt-kick that guy out of there.

Did I mention that guy was Roy Harper?

* * *

I scratch my neck. "What time is it?"

Bruce glances down at me and gives me a sideways smirk. "Nervous?"

"As if," I say. "I'm excited!"

"Well, try to contain yourself. And stop scratching before Alfred catches you."

I immediately stop and move on to picking at my sleeve. " _Come_ _on_. Can't we head down now?"

"Not yet. We have to be fashionably late."

"I thought that was something people only said when they were actually running late."

Bruce doesn't deign me with a reply, simply continues to comb through his already perfect hair. "Remember what I told you?"

I sigh. "Talk about school and that vacation to the Galapagos. I know."

"If someone says something you don't like...?"

"Rule number 20. Smile and make them regret it."

"Good. Let's head down."

"Yes!" I follow Bruce from the upstairs lounge to the main foyer.

This is my first public appearance as the ward of Bruce Wayne. When we come to the cress of the steps, hundreds of faces all turn to look at us.  
I grin cheekily and wave.

All around, laughter and cheers start up, everyone's clapping for me.

I've been in the limelight all my life. I'm not a shy kid. But Bruce told my to try to lay low. Everyone here might say they're my best friend, but they're all wolves in disguise.

I do as I'm told and follow close behind Bruce as he makes his rounds. I meet everyone from the mayor to a shady looking guy in a pinstripe suit.

"Well if it isn't Bruce Wayne!"

I see Bruce visibly wince but he turns anyways, plastering a smile on his face. "Queen. Long time no see."

I recognize him. Blonde hair. Sort of scruffy but more in a "I'm hungover" kind of way. He's dressed in a fancifully tailored suit. He's Oliver Queen, richest man in Star City.

I don't recognize the kid behind him, however.

He has short red hair and a scowl on his face. He's sort of dressed up, though his buttons are done wrong and his shirt's not tucked in. He's a little older than me, making him about thirteen or fourteen.

Queen claps him on the shoulder. "Since you took in a ward, I figured I might as well too. Public image and all, am I right?" He winks.

I frown and glance up at Bruce. I can see a tick developing in his right eye.

"This is Roy Harper."

Bruce smiles at the boy and holds out his hand. "Pleasure."

Roy looks wide-eyed up at Bruce's thousand watt smile and tentatively shakes his hand.

"I'm Dick Grayson," I say, a slight touch of my Romanian accent coming through. Bruce said that it would be a killer with the press. Too cute.

"Nice to meet you," he grumbles, shaking my hand. He's mostly still gawking at the richest man in the building right now. Bruce has launched into a conversation with Queen about the latest scandal among some higher ups.

As I shake Roy's hand, I feel the callouses near the bend in the top of his pointer, middle, and ring finger. Those aren't guitar callouses, otherwise they would be on all his fingers and on the tips. He has wide shoulders, hinting at strong back muscles. Before I can stop myself, I say, "You do archery?"

It's like time suddenly freezes as both Queen and Roy turn to stone, Roy's hand still clasped in my smaller one.

"W-w-what...?" Roy stutters. His hand snaps away from mine like I burned him.

Bruce nudges me. I catch his eye and he's giving me a dangerous look. My throat clenches. Oh. _Oh_.

I slap on a grin. "Because I do some archery myself. Since we're both sort of in the same position, being rich wards and all..." I bat my eyes lazily like I see Bruce do when he wants someone to pass him off as spoiled and stupid. "I figured we should hang out. We've got a full archery range and everything. It's new."

Roy's too pale to respond. Oliver Queen covers for him. "I'm sure that'd be great. Right, Roy?"

Roy recovers slightly. "Uh. I don't know..."

I cross my arms and flip my hand in the air. "If you don't like archery or whatever, that's fine. It's sort of a stupid sport anyways." I'm trying to flip the conversation and change the subject.

But I think I might have taken that one too far.

"What?" Roy's voice drops a few octaves. I raise an eyebrow. "What?" He repeats.

I'm blown away by what happens next.

Roy gets in my face and hisses, "Look, archery is a time honored tradition that teaches one of personal and spiritual strength. You have no idea what it's like to have the most important thing in your life taken away. Archery helped me before I could come to terms with everything that's happened to me. I never want to hear you disrespect it again!"

One phrase registers in my head. You have no idea...the most important thing... _taken away_...

I let out a slight, crazy-sounding giggle and reel back my fist to punch him in the face. Bruce catches my arm and holds on. Hard.

Queen smacks Roy in the back of the head. "What was that? Play nice."

Rubbing his head, Roy glares at me before turning his glare on Queen. "Whatever."

I'm shaking with a smile to rival the Joker's on my face. Bruce's hand is still wrapped around my arm.

"Hey, Wayne," Queen looks down at me. "What wrong with your kid?"

"Richard," Bruce says, using my full name to get my attention, "go back upstairs for a little bit. I think you're a little tired."

I nod wordlessly and he lets go of my arm. I stare at Roy until he looks away before heading upstairs.

I go down into the Bat-cave and work on the trapeze set until my muscles burn. Only when I'm too tired to do a cartwheel do I stop. I collapse on the ground, chest burning. Sweat gets into my eyes, causing tears. That's what I tell myself...

"Dick..." It's Bruce. The party must have ended a while ago because he's already changed and showered wrapped in a monogrammed robe.

"Does it ever stop hurting?" I whisper from the floor.

Bruce Wayne lowers himself onto the floor beside me. "No. But it can be offset. Next time, just enjoy the party."

I take a shaky breath and nod. "Sorry."

"Don't ever apologize for that." He gives me a softened Bat-glare. "What's Rule 65?"

"An apology without sincerity has no affect on anything."

"Correct. As usual."

* * *

"Robin, is that him?"

I snap back to the present. "Sorry, what?"

Connor almost points but seems to think better of it. Good, he's learning. "The guy standing by the pillar to our left. Is he that rich guy?"

I glance that direction and casually accept some "punch" from a passing waiter. I take a fake sip. (I'm not about to drink unidentified open liquids, this is a Bruce Wayne party after all). "No, it's not him."

Connor frowns.

"Good guess though," I say, trying to be encouraging. But encouraging is not really my strong suit. "But he's holding himself all wrong. Constant perimeter checks, his weapon is concealed under his right arm, and he has an earpiece." But he's still blending in better than you, I resist to add.

Connor squint. "How could you tell that? I have super eyesight and I couldn't even tell."

"Training," is my only response. "Come on."

We move deeper in the party and its like being swallowed by a creature made of fine silk and perfume. People keep touching my shoulders and laughing in my ear. The whole room smells like alcohol.

There's a reason we stopped having these parties when I was little.

"We don't even know what this guy looks like." Connor nearly winds up with wine all down his front as he tries to dance around a severely drunk couple. "What are we looking for?"

I wink at a girl blushing in my direction before turning my attention to Connor. "He'll probably be surrounded by people and bodyguards. He's never been seen in public before, right? So he'll be one of the main attractions." I'm actually taking a gamble if he's even here. What if maintaining a public image came second for him to keeping his face a secret? Then I guess I'd have to try something else...

"There's a whole lot of people up there." Connor actually does point this time, right at a group of people clustering around something. Or someone.

Feeling hopeful, I start to make in that direction. But someone grabs my arm.

I resist the reflex to twist my arm and pop their shoulder out of place, instead remembering to remain in character. "How dare you—"

But then I see who it is. It's Wally, dressed like a waiter.

"Impulse?" Connor says.

"Shush! I'm not in costume, stupid. I'm Wally." The redhead seems to have recovered. I remember how I blurted out his greatest secret to the world's topmost superheroes. Guilt burns the back of my neck.

"Hey, I'm sorry—"

"Forget it," Wally says, making a dismissive gesture. But there's still tension in his body.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, you said you needed help. Here I am. Tell me what to do, all wise one."

I silently fume. "It's not that simple. If I factor you in, it changes everything. People are already watching us because we're talking with the staff. Here, take our drinks." I pass them to Wally who straightens and holds them delicately like a real waiter. "Now tell me about the food."

"We have tonight a duck meatball soup with...cherry-smoked hickory ham..."

I sense a few gazes turn away. I breath a sigh of relief. "Okay, good job. And just for future reference, that sounded disgusting." I reach up and adjust my tie, turning on the ear piece and microphone as I do so. "Thanks for the heads up, Bats."

"Didn't want you to be concerned," Batman's voice rumbles in my ear. "And don't call me Bats."

I resist rolling my eyes. "How's it coming, Garfield?"

"Uh, well, not so hot right now. I can't even find away into this mansion. This place has tighter security than the pentagon. Even the mouse holes are locked up tight."  
I start moving. Staying still too long draws suspicion. "Well you've got to find a way in. We need to find Metus, track him, and get out of here. This atmosphere is not ideal."

Garfield mumbles, "Well, at least you guys are at the party while I'm in the dark underneath the house with these bugs..."

I grind my teeth. "I don't have time for this—" I turn and almost collide with someone. Connor's too late, "Robin, watch out," falls on deaf ears.

"Sorry," I say. This is great, just great.

The guy looks up and his eyes widen. "You!"

I glance at his face and I feel my eyes widen too.

"You! You're the one who did this to me!"

Never mind the rich people all lingering around us listening. Never mind the odd looks and interested glances.

My mouth falls open. "Found you."

Benjamin Wilcox, aka Metus, glares at me. With a pair of bright blue eyes that are familiar.

Metus looks exactly like me. Except older.

I'm confused but what he's says next though.

"What did you do and who are you?"

I blink. "What did _I_ do—?"

But we're interrupted as suddenly the lights flicker off and the silence that comes with a power outage swallows us. A few women call out in alarm.

It's just a power failure, I tell myself. And I can believe it.

Until there's the sound of fifteen windows shattering and heaving boots hitting the floor. And then a voice, that shouts over the rising screams.

"HAND OVER BENJAMIN WILCOX AND NO ONE GETS HURT!"

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*laughs in an attempt to hide pain* Author slumps down in their chair again. Their final words before slipping back into the realm of unconsciousness echo around their empty room and reverberate with their singular, gleaming laptop. Will it reach them-the ones that read?

"Review!REVIEW!"

"There's only one way to know for sure...


	12. Chapter 12

**Special thanks to all those people who give such great reviews! Especially HetaliaIShipIt who wrote a lovely long review (I'm excited for Young Justice Season 3 as well!) Also, Girl in the Gore who, despite their mildly terrifying name, wrote me a fabulous review with a little smiley face ;) . Sorry for the terrible wait.**

12

Superboy reacts just like any Kryptonian. Rips off his sleeves and starts punching stuff. Mass chaos breaks out but I can hear Connor's roars like he's directly next to my ear.

In the confusion, I manage to run into Wilcox again. He's somehow managed to lose both his guards and his entourage. He catches my eye and grabs onto my arm with an inhuman grip.

"You aren't going anywhere!" He shouts over the racket.

I grind my teeth. Now really isn't the time. In my ear, I hear Batman promising to get there soon and Garfield freaking out how he can't get in. I see Wally shoot down the steps and ram into some cloaked figures and hear Superboy's angry growl, somewhere off in the dark. Someone jostles my shoulder and I stumble slightly.

"There are supers!" someone shouts, either a warning or a cheer.

I'm struggling to see over everyone's heads. Not for the first time in my life I'm wishing I was taller.

"What is going on? Did you send them here? Is this part of your plan?" Wilcox is shouting in my face.

I push him away from me. "We have to get you out of here."

He doesn't like me pushing him. He starts to run away but trips and disappears in the sea of people.

"Out of the way, kid." A man dressed in black rams into me.

Oh. No. He. Didn't.

I'm already pissed enough because this mission is pretty much rubble under my feet. I lash out, jumping up and kicking the guy square in the back of the neck. He crumbles like a puppet that had its strings cut.

I land on my feet and fix my collar. "Honestly..." I turn only to be hit right in the chest with something.

A girl is standing a little ways away, looking right at me. She's dressed in black too with a bow raised and her hand held like she just fired something. I frown as I look at the arrow in my chest. It definitely stings, but it's not incapacitating. But when I go to pull it out I catch the glint of the thin metal wire that runs from the arrow to the bow.

"Oh," I say.

The girl grins. "Good night." She presses the button and suddenly my whole body is electrocuted with about 10000 volts of electricity. My legs give out and I fall flat on my back.

My muscles burn as they twitch uncontrollably. My training kicks in and I do heavy breathing to keep my heart rate steady. If I force my blood to keep pumping I might regain some control. But my vision is starting to get blurry.

I hear Connor cry out in pain. Sirens are starting far off and there's the sound of a helicopter coming this way.

"We've got Wilcox," someone says.

"We took out the Superboy. And Impulse. What should we do with them?"

"The super brat will only be out for so long and then we have no means of containing him."

With my blurry eyes, I see the guy I kicked earlier stand. I think he's the one giving the orders.

"Grab Impulse. We can use some ransom money from the Alliance. And who's the kid?"

I guess he's talking about me because someone nudges my twitching body with their foot.

"No idea. But he performed a perfect flying back kick and he's still awake after I tasered him." That's the girl's voice. "He sort of looks like Wilcox too. Are they related? Brothers? Cousins?"

"Who cares. Bring him along too. The cops will be here soon and I wasn't able to pay them all off this time. The Commissioner's been getting rid of our men from inside the force since that Bat showed up..."

I feel myself being lifted. Someone pries my eyelid open and I catch a look at a large, brutish face with chopped blond hair. I recognize him.

"Sportsmaster," I try to say, but it comes out more like, "Spasmasthser."

He seems to catch it anyways. "Interesting. Bag the kid's head. I don't know who he is, but I plan to find out. And tie him up good. We don't want him to fly the coop. Let get a move on people!"

A bag is pulled over my head. It smells sweet. I try not to breathe in, but I still can't quite control myself. I inhale too much of the sweet smelling substance and my vision fades faster than ever.

My last memory is of getting on a helicopter.

When I wake up, the bag is not longer over my head but I feel like I lost a fight with an electric eel.

I don't let on that I'm awake, of course. I don't let a single groan escape me or try to move my cramped muscles. I slowly regain feeling in my body but it's a tingling in my arms that worried me. They must have tied my up to at least the elbows allowing absolutely no room for movement. Because of being tied up like this I'm forced to sit in an awkward position and my back is killing me. My legs are just as securely tied in a kneeling position, with the rope wrapping from my knees to my ankles.

I peak through my eyelashes. But I hear a sudden shuffle and groan next to me. I can't stop myself from tensing up.

"Hey, Boss. They're awake!"

I give up trying to fake them out and open my eyes to look around. Because of the rope, I can barely lift my head. My whole body either hurts or is numb. I roll my head to look up at our captors from the corner of my eye.

They're a rough bunch, but from looking at their stances and weapons, they're well trained and well equipped. I quickly take in my surroundings, searching for an exit, a gap in their security. Nothing.

"What the...?" I look over to see Wally struggling in his bindings next to me. He's dressed in his full Impulse gear so I guess he must have changed really quickly before they got him. I know that Flash's outfit pops out of a ring or something. Maybe Wally's is the same.

"So, Impulse. You've been under the radar lately. Is Flash around? Or are you solo now?" A woman with a foreign accent says. She seems to be the highest ranking one here judging how the others defer to her.

"Huntress," Wally says, frowning. He seems to only just be realizing what big trouble we're in.

Her name shocks me a little. After all, the Huntress in my world is paralyzed from the waist down and hasn't been committing any crimes since she got out of prison...

"Who's your friend?" Huntress kneels down so she's eye level with us. "He mute?"

Thinking quickly, I cuss her out in Italian. I look Italian enough to pull it off, I suppose.

She looks taken aback but then smiles. "Nice try. But we already got your rich friend to talk and he said you already spoke to him in English."

This time I curse myself. Stupid. Now all I've done is raise their suspicions. "Where's Benjamin Wilcox?"

She smiles wider. "As if I'd tell you, deary. I assure you, he's well taken care of. Working on getting some information out of him, is all."

"What are you going to do with us," Wally spits, sounding aggressive. It'd be more effective if he wasn't so hogtied.

"Calm yourself, Imp. We're working everything out in due time. First things first, interrogations." She nods to the bodybuilders beside her and they move to grab Wally.

Immediately my heart is in my throat. This is unfamiliar territory for me. I don't usually get captured. Not to mention I've got two other hostages to rescue besides myself.

It's time to put on a show.

As soon as Wally's gone, my face drops into a sneer. "I don't know what you think you're doing."

Huntress seems a little surprised at my change in attitude. "What's that suppose to mean."

"Wilcox was my target." I clench my jaw angrily. "We were supposed to get him tonight and it would have gone fine if you all hadn't shown up."

Huntress leans forward. "Oh? So you're an assassin now?"

I try to look as casual as I can with my arms and legs tied. "I'm more of a mercenary. I work for the League of Shadows."

That gets the intended reaction. Just as I thought, they're doing this whole set up on their own to get a payoff. They don't want to mess with the Shadows.

Huntress's eyes narrow. "I was just on an assignment from the Shadows. What's their safety word?"

A "safety word" is just an assurance for other assassins not to kill each other so they know they're on the same side. I try not to let my panic show on my face. This world is completely different from mine. But maybe somethings haven't changed. Maybe? Or should I use an older one...? Maybe I should back out and do the Council of Owls instead. No, that would be too obvious...

Sorry, Batman. I'm going to have to break Rule #42: If you don't have enough evidence, never take a guess.

I'm taking a guess.

"Landline dialed?" I say, trying to make it not sound like a question.

Huntress's features immediately relax. "Ah. So they did send you. Terribly sorry. We can give you a cut of the ransoms."

"Untie me first," I say, now trying not to sound too relieved.

She reaches for the ropes before pausing. "But why were you with the heroes?"

"I infiltrated them under the pretense of being from another dimension."

"And that worked?" She sounds incredulous.

I smirk. "I'm quite convincing when I want to be."

"Impressive. Anything you'd like to share about the Alliance? Bases, names, numbers?"

I click my tongue. "Now, now, I'm currently owning the monopoly in Alliance trust. It's a score I'd like to keep going. I get a lot of job offers my line of work."

"And for one so young..." She quickly slashes a knife through my ropes.

I take a huge sigh and shake my limbs out. Any longer and I was afraid they'd just fall off.

"You must teach my daughter some of your tricks. She is a little older than you." Huntress turns from me and shouts down the hall. "Artemis!"

I'm shocked. I didn't know Huntress had a daughter.

"One more thing," Huntress looks at me through her mask. "Why do you look so much like Benjamin Wilcox?"

"You could say he looks more like me," I correct with a smirk. "As you probably know, Wilcox is an alien—"

Okay, judging from her expression, they didn't know that.

"—and the Shadows were researching him and his kind. I had come across an egg-like object that disappeared not too long ago. The Shadow's believe that the egg was somehow connected to Wilcox metaphysically and therefore changed his appearance when I made contact with it." This is something I've actually been thinking about for a while. I don't mind telling her this now that she's sort of on my side. Maybe she and her thugs will help my find the egg.

Huntress seems to still be digesting all this when a young girl approaches. I recognize her as the girl from before who shot me with the taser arrow.

"You!" She says, surprised to see me untied and standing. She looks curiously at her mom.

"This is..."

"Robin," I say. "My code name is Robin." I give her my thousand watt smile. Even dirtied and frazzled looking as I am now, I still manage to make her cheeks redden. "I work with the League of Shadows currently."

"Artemis," blonde ponytail girl says, crossing her arms. She doesn't look anything like Huntress. Are they maybe related through the gang? Like a "sisterhood" or something? But I can detect almost the same accent as Huntress coming through in Artemis's speech. Plus, their eyes are shaped the same.

"Pleasure. Now, can I ask what business you have with Wilcox?"

Huntress smiles. "Not so fast. If you really are who you say you are, then you know the common rule among assassins?"

Of course. It's also Batman Rule 101: "Only the strong survive."

"Right. So, let's have a little demo of what a League of Shadows assassin can do. You'll do a live demonstration with...Artemis, as your opponent."

"Ah." I look at Artemis haughtily while on the inside my stomach has turned inside out. This is a sucktastic situation.

Artemis glowers at me and props a hand on her hip. "Sure. I can take on a little dweeb like him."

My eyes narrow. On second thought...

We gather in a larger than expected room. The walk here gave me a little time to take in my surroundings. The floors are concrete but every so often have an oil stain on them. The air still smells like motor oil. I believe this might have been a car factory in one lifetime. However, gone are the workers and instead there are hundreds of people treating this like their home.

This group of people who attacked Wayne Manor are nothing more than squatters here in the warehouse. By the looks of it, they each have families and friends who live here too. It's like a little town. Cardboard houses have been erected to serve as partitions between the families. Clothing lines hang from the tall machines that would have at one point manufacture car parts. All around me is the sound of voices. Of life.

I'm so confused.

As we walk, children run by. They're dirty and bedraggled, but they smile and call out to Artemis and her mom as we pass by. Indeed, many people watch our little procession with interest.

There's another smell in the air. Cold rain. Through the small, slit-like windows near the ceiling, I can see the dark storm clouds. Gotham then. We must still be in the city.

Some children have a darkness in their eyes. A darkness I'm sure I reflect in my own eyes. They've seen death much too early in their life. That sure brings back memories...

Memories! All at once, I try to run through my spiel in my head again.

My name is Richard John Grayson-Wayne. My parents are Mary and John Grayson and Bruce Wayne. My birthday is April 1st which is also the day my parents died. I'm Robin. Bruce is Batman. I was put in charge of a team and that's when I found the...the egg, right? Um, and Batman said goodbye to me and...there are people I forgot about, I think. But that doesn't matter, stick to important stuff, Richard, what else...?

My hands twitch. My gloves! They're gone! I had been recording everything in them so I wouldn't forget.

I'm not so much worried about anyone accessing them (after all, my tech is advanced compared to what I see in this world and I have encryptions the Chinese government would have trouble cracking) but I am concerned that I don't have them. Pretending to brush myself off a little bit (I was wearing a nice tux, after all) I check myself for my weapons. I, of course, hid everything when I went to the party but...

Everything is gone.

And I mean everything. My utility belt, all four sets of lock picks, my shoe smoke grenade, my stiletto knife, my metal rod, my ear piece, the backup earpiece in my right cuff link, the tracker in my left cufflink, my tie which actually hid my grappling hook, the bottle of pepper spray hidden inside a mouth spritzer, the tiny bombs that look like mints, the third button from the top of my white shirt that was my microphone, everything! _Gone!_ They didn't miss a thing!

Frustrated, I chance a glare at Huntress who is looking at me in amusement.

"Just another reason why I think you're no ordinary child," she says, smirking. "Being so heavily armed and all."

Scowling I turn back around. I take note that Sportsmaster doesn't seem to be living in Happy Slum Town and wonder where he is. I hope Wally can handle a little interrogation. My alibi will counteract anything he tries to lay on me but it'll also wreck his trust in me.

"Everyone! Gather around!" Huntress raises her arms, drawing everyone's attention. "We have a challenge about to happen!"

The adults and children all formed a large circle around the three of us.

"To show that we value fairness here, Artemis will fight without weapons either."

Artemis shot her mother a look, but obediently emptied her bow, quiver, arrows, and belt into her mom's arms.

Huntress backed up to join the fence of people around us. I glance around. This is a small space, but not too small. The ground is hard so it would suck to land on. There are no gaps in the crowd around us.

Artemis smirks at me. "Getting second thoughts, brat?"

I raise and eyebrow and remove my suit coat. Tossing it aside (it was ruined anyways), I unbutton and roll up my sleeves. These pants are pretty well made but I hope they don't rip mid-fight. That would not be cool. I kick off the dress shoes. The socks catch a little bit on the rough concrete which is fine, as long as they don't slip.

" _Ooh_ ," the crowd jeers as I do this.

Artemis laughs unkindly. "Oh, getting serious now, are we?"

I watch how she stands. She's relaxed and self-confident. This girl might be seriously good. She's taller than me by a solid five inches. Her outfit shows off her muscular arms and the top stops at her belly button showing off her strong stomach. I briefly wonder if she still has a concealed weapon but push that out of mind. Honor among thieves after all.

I roll my shoulders which are still stiff from being tied up. I have to remember to fight like an assassin. I'll my moves should look like they're aimed to kill.

I gulp. I'll have to change my mindset to get this down successfully.

Some of my apprehension must show. "What's wrong, kid? Chickening out?"

Cursing internally, I smooth out my features. "Just getting my bearings. Shall we?"

Huntress speaks up. "We will now begin the fight between Robin, the mysterious Alliance infiltrator from the League of Assassins, and Artemis, the very best warrior this encampment had to offer. She has won numerous metals in archery, close combat, and gymnastics!"

Artemis tilts her head. "Hear that, brat? I've been doing gymnastics mixed in with my fighting since I was eleven. Try to keep up."

It's a good thing I'm practiced at keeping a straight face. "I'll try my hardest, _công chúa_."

That throws her through a loop. Just as I though, she's Vietnamese. She's still confused when her mother calls, "Begin!"

And we begin.

I sink low to the ground, taking a wide stance and launch myself at her to test her reflexes.

She reacts slow, but still fast enough to block me. She tries to grab my arm right above the elbow to have the upper hand, but I jump up and kick against her chest, switching tracks in a heartbeat.

Folding my arms in, I do a twisting backflip, where I don't tuck my legs. Instead, I land completely upright, bending my knees only slightly for the landing. She stumbles back but is able to stay standing by pivoting her foot. She's _very_ well trained. I would have floored someone usually if I had caught them off guard with that move.

A second is all she needs to regain her composure. She launches into a front handspring. Good tactic, usually most opponents wouldn't know how to counter an attack like that. But I'm not most opponents.

I watch her hands instead of her twisting body. Your hands are where your force comes from when performing this move. She moves her wrists together and bend her elbow. She's going to come right at me, using her feet as the spearhead, and knock me down and out for the count.

As she moves, I bend backwards into a tabletop pose. She goes right over me.

Usually when I do something so awesome, I take time to show off, maybe go into a one-handed handstand. But Artemis hardly gives me a moment to breath before she's on her feet again and is coming right at me.

I use the back facing power of my current stance to swing my feet up and push off the ground with my arms right as she makes to tackle me. I go up in the air but come down quickly. Expecting this, I push off Artemis's shoulders and this time she stumbles and falls. I land on my feet, taking a single step forward to catch my footing. I berate myself internally. Batman would be so mad if he saw that landing.

This whole time, the crowd has been booing and cheering in sync with our fight. I think I might have impressed a few because I seem to have gained a few fans. The laughter at my ease at evading Artemis and and friendly jeers at the archer have started to affect me. After all, for a majority of my life, I was a performer.

I shoot the crowd a cocky smile and wink at the girl standing next to Huntress. She raises an eyebrow, lips pursed.

Artemis has been affected by the crowd too, but in a different way. She scowls deeply, her pretty face compressed. "Ugh! I'll kill you, you stupid kid!" She reaches into her tall left boot and pulls out a long hunting knife.

Suddenly, my pulse speeds up. No longer standing in front of me is Artemis, but a bulky kid with long lanky hair. Only the knife remains the same.

I switch into autopilot. I watch myself move as I close the gap between Artemis and me in an instant and jab her hard in the stomach.

She's able to handle it without wincing too badly and takes a swing at me with the knife. I lean back so the top passes right in front of my eye. Still moving like a person possessed, I grab the arm with the knife in a vice like grip.

The next thing I know, I'm on the ground on top of Artemis, my knee pressing down on her esophagus. The knife is now in my hand, raised above, ready to strike.

Artemis looks surprised and afraid of the sudden darkness I exhibited. The crowd around us has gone silent.

I'm completely disgusted with myself. I can feel it coursing through me. The monster I thought I had quelled. Was it really so thinly concealed? In actuality lurking just under the surface. And that kid...just a simple memory like that was able to drag it out?

I look up at Huntress.

She looks convinced. "So you are an assassin. Go ahead and finish her." She looks down at Artemis. "After all, only the strong survive."

I move my eyes back to Artemis who is turning blue with the pressure I'm applying to her windpipe. She looks frightened. Of me.

I quickly stand up, getting off her. I drop the knife and try to say as calmly as I can, "I don't kill unless I get something out of it." I'm overwhelmed with the feeling to throw up. But I hold it in. I stare at Huntress. "I want to speak with Wilcox now."

Huntress blinks and nods. "Very well. Cheshire, my other daughter, just finished interrogating him. He should be ready for you." She nods at the girl I winked at earlier.

Cheshire does look more like her mom, now that I look at her. She has to be seven to eight years older than Artemis. She has dark hair, braided tightly, like her mom's. She shares the same almond eyes that Artemis also has.

She doesn't speak to me the whole way through the crowd and out of the main chamber of the factory. Which is just fine by me. I need to collect myself. Inside, I'm a quivering mess.

That fight I just had has awakened memories that are among the ones I though I had forgotten...or wished I had.

 **Thank you for your support! Your reviews feed my work! Next chapter, prepare for some flashbacks into Robin's darker past. Also, if you're a fan of the Batfamily, hang with me...you might just see them all yet... REVIEW!**


	13. Chapter 13

Hey guys. Sorry for the wait...ha ha ha. *Laughs manically*

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13

When I was eight, my whole world ended. Both my parents died and I suddenly found myself trapped inside the snare that is the Gotham City legal system.

My assigned social worker was a woman who's name I never learned, but I called her Ms. Fumes inside my head. She was always smoking a cigarette, no matter where she was.

At this time, I could understand more English than I could speak. Ms. Fumes, however, thought that I was completely deaf whenever she talked to me. I don't know if she really cared or not. She probably saw orphaned children due to murders all the time.

I was too young to understand what was happening. I got dragged to a number of places where I would sit next to Ms. Fumes and she would put her sweaty hand on my shoulder while she discussed my situation with another adult. Usually, these meetings would end with us leaving, she dragging me by the arm, her large hand completely encompassing mine.

One day, while I was sitting in her office, watching the people walk around on the streets outside, I heard her talking to herself.

That was nothing new. She did that all the time, believing I couldn't understand her.

Taking a drag from her cigarette, she did a scratchy sigh. "Well, Richy-boy, it seems we're all occupied. But don't you worry, I'm going to find some place that'll take you." She coughed. It was the throaty hack of a future lung cancer receiver. "Nobody wants a sneaky gypsy kid though...more trouble than he's worth. Sucks you had to wind up here..." Her large lips closed around the cigarette end. "Ah well. You'll probably be a thief anyway, since it's in your blood. Might as well get familiar with Juvie." She let loose a throaty cackle.

"Juvie" was not an English word I knew. But it would be one I would become familiar with over the next few months.

And that's how I ended up at Gotham Juvenile Detention Center.

There were forms I signed and Ms. Fumes signed and then the guard who met us at the gate signed. I stood frozen, staring at the place that would now be my home.

Ms. Fumes bends down in front of me. Her cigarette breath blows into my face. "I know this is going to be hard, but just remember you haven't done anything wrong yet. This will harden you up too. So buck up." She gives me a smile. There was lipstick on her front teeth.

She straightens and gets back in her car. She drives away without a second look.

The guard puts a hand in my shoulder. He leads me through the cast iron gates and I cringe as I hear them grind shut behind us. The lock settles with a heavy ambiance.

The grounds are neat and orderly. Not a single tree on the property. Guards stand at the entrance to the ugly yellow concrete building we walk into.

Inside they fingerprint me, take my picture, and give me a designation. I am M320. They make me change clothes to a light beige jumpsuit. They ask me if I speak any English and I respond to them in Romani. They write down NONE for that category.

Then they take me down a long hallway which opened up into a multi-leveled room. I can see it has four floors. The bottom floor seems to be a cafeteria of some type where boys mill about, eating, talking loudly, and arguing. Guards meander through the crowds, shouting at those who get too loud and breaking up fights. I notice that each of them is armed with some kind of taser and baton.

My fellow prisoners are all mostly boys who are my age up to seventeen. I am clearly the youngest one here. I also notice they wear different colored jumpsuits from my own. I see a lot of yellow, some orange, and some blues. I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb. It doesn't help that I'm tiny for my age either.

The guard leads me to a close table where a bunch of kids in yellow are sitting.

"L56, this is M320. He's a special case being taken in by the city for now. You're being assigned to him. Meaning, he gets into trouble, you take the fall. Understand?"

L56 looks me up and down, nodding. He's lanky and looks to be about sixteen. His skin is a light brown and his hair is shaved so short it's more of a shadow of a hairline than hair.

"He doesn't speak English," the guard says, sounding impatient. "So good luck with that. Make sure he knows the rules somehow." And with that, the guard turns and walks away.

L56 shoots a grin at the other boys at his table. "So we got a special case huh?"

A boy with a long hooked nose and nervous fingers leans across the table. "Duvall, this is a pain. What are we suppose to do with him?"

Duvall, I assume is L56's name. "Like the pops said, take him in. Yeesh, I wonder how old he is."

I frown and look down. Counting, I hold up eight fingers.

"Ha! So he can understand, just not talk. Okay, what's your name, kid?"

"Richard," I say, my accent coming through strongly, rolling the "r" and choking on the "ch" sound.

Duvall's eyebrows raise. "Yeesh. Okay then, Richie, what happened to you to end up in this dump. Here—" he shoves the kid next to him over slightly and gestures for me to sit down. "We don't get many cream colors like you around here."

I stare at the rough table's surface. People have carved their names and words in English I don't know.

"You an orphan?"

I look up, surprised he got it so fast.

"Thought so. Yeesh, they're overflowing recently."

"Yeah," the hooked nose kid says, "we gotta ton of 'em up at my place near the factories. They get work there."

"Most of us here are orphans too, but we're here for other reasons," a kid with neon orange hair says.

Duvall nods. "Yeah, see our outfits all mean different things. Cream ones like you are wards of the city. You're the only one for now. We used to have an older girl, but she transferred. Came back a month ago as a blue."

I look around, noticing there are some girls mixed in. But they're just as rough and loud as the boys.

"Yellows, like us, are thieves," Duvall nods around the table. "We get in trouble for stealing, big or small. Usually from stores. Usually food and water. Then you go up a notch and you've got oranges. They're in for breaking and entering, mugging, minor battery assault, arson, and so on. The blues are a little worse. They're the possessive ones. They're arrested for possessing the illegals: drugs, alcohol, guns, etcetera. And a step above them...you get the reds."

I follow Duvall's gaze towards a table where four kids are sitting. I hadn't noticed them before, but now I can't look away. The aura around them...it's scary. Each has a guard positioned right over their shoulder. Three boys and a girl.

"They're in for the big stuff. Murder, rape, sending people to the hospital. Yeah, don't mess with them."

One boy, who looks to be about fourteen, looks up at me and meets my eyes. He has long dark hair. When he smiles, the corners of his mouth curve up, making my blood run cold. I quickly look away.

"I don't want to be here," I whisper to myself in Romani. Just a few weeks ago, I witnessed my parents' death. And now I'm stuck here with murderers?

"We aren't bad though," Duvall says, looking at me, a serious expression in his eyes. "Not all of us."

I stare back at him. I'm sure my eyes reflect just how empty I feel.

"Yeesh. I wonder if we can communicate somehow..." Duvall turns around and shouts to a kid with dark hair. "Hey! Lisbon, you speak a few languages, right?"

"Sí," the kid turns to us, frowning. He's in the process of wrapping up his arm with something. He squints at me. "I'll try a few. Is he Hispanic?"

"No idea what language he's mumbling."

I make a quick decision to trust them. "I speak English." My accent is heavy, and even though I whisper, I speak clearly.

"What? You do? You just shy or somethin', yeesh." Duvall cackles. "Trying to outsmart the man, huh, cherry-picker? Good luck kid, you're already on the road to glory."

They laugh, and not kindly. My eyes sting with embarrassment.

The days are long and the nights even longer at Gotham Juvenile Detention Center. The first night I cried for hours in my five-by-five cell. I don't have a bunkmate since I'm the only "beige baby" as they call them at the Center. I wake up exhausted and stumble my way through the day. We attend lessons on basic math and English. I feel stupid in the English class since reading English is still not my strong point. The other kids laugh at me. I either get called Beige Baby or M320. I feel like less and less of a person every day.

I learned pretty early on that I had to keep to myself to survive. I didn't talk much since I didn't want the guards to know I spoke English. As it was, I got to overhear more conversations because they thought I was stupid.

I feel my sanity slipping. And with it, my humanity.

The first time it happens is a surprise. Some kid rams into me at breakfast. A big, tough, greasy girl with blue highlights wearing an orange jumpsuit.

"Watch it, creamy," she snaps, shoving me back, hard.

I happen to be standing in front of another kid whose food tray I know is in their hands directly behind my back. I only have two jumpsuits that I change on and off daily so they can be washed every week. Needless to say, I want to avoid getting it dirty. So I do what comes automatically to me. I jump up with the shove and move so that as I go backwards, my arm reaches up and grips the shoulder of the kid behind me. I use him as a backboard to launch myself further into the air before flipping easily and landing solidly on top of another kid. We crumple to the floor. The kid who I used as a springboard is so surprised he drops his breakfast anyways, splattering my jumpsuit.

"Whoa." Duvall says, from where he was watching a safe distance away. "Our Beige Baby has some moves."

"Circus freak," orange jumpsuit spits and turns sharply away from me.

I get up, feeling exhilarated. That was the first trick I'd done in months. It felt so _right_ to be in the air again.

After the breakfast fiasco, I get a new nickname, "Circus Freak." I find I don't mind it as much as Beige Baby. Not to mention, suddenly, I'm performing again.

More of the older kids start fights with me, a cocky brat who has nothing to lose. I easily maneuver around their clumsy punches and weak kicks. At eight years of age, I have muscles more well-developed than most adults. These malnourished, cafeteria-goo weakened kids stand no chance. It's like their moving in slow motion. It's so easy. It's fun.

My reputation grows. I still don't speak much English and the guards still use that to talk right in front of my face. They don't like me. They think I'm a gypsy brat who will wind up dead like my parents.

After hearing that, I actually draw blood in my next fight. I hit back, not softly either. It's easy, it's just a flip except I extend my foot so it connects with his face. It hurts my foot a lot. The kid walks away with a bleeding nose and a wounded pride. And I feel the darkness rising in me. The anger I've felt is finally overflowing.

"Hey, Circus Freak."

I lean back, glancing casually over my shoulder. My senses have become heightened after living in such a dangerous environment for so many months. I'm hyper-aware that I could get attacked at any time. Dinner is especially dangerous since kids tend to want to settle things before we get locked up for the night.

A red jumpsuit is talking to me. Out of my peripheral, I notice that there are no guards around. Whether they're taking a break, are eating, or don't care what happens to me, I don't know. It doesn't really matter. I've learned not to rely on adults.

He's the greasy, blond kid I made eye contact with the first night I was here. The Reds don't get to come out to the regular area often, so I haven't really seen him around. He's obviously heard of my latest escapades based on his use of my misnomer.

"Have you ever killed someone?" He asks, out of the blue.

I swallow, standing slowly.

"I have," he says easily, dragging a hand through his stringy hair. "It was easy. You have that look in your eyes. Like you've seen death right up close. How was it?"

My throat feels filled with cotton. "What do you want?" No guards means English. I mimic the way the other kids around me speak, sharp and to the point. They have a slight city lilt to their voices that I adopt to hide my Romani accent.

"Just to talk." He laughs in a way that will remind me of the Joker in a few years. "Have you ever seen so much blood that you think you're going to drown in it? Felt it on your skin?"

I feel sick. I go to turn away. There's someone burning in my veins that wants out but I shouldn't let it.

"Don't turn away from me!"

I turn in time to see him holding a knife—probably stolen from the kitchen. My mind is immediately confused since I lack the instant reaction training of Batman. But I know I'm in danger. I know I can die.

I hold up my arms to protect my body. The cold steel slashes across one arm. I cry out in pain and terror. I feel something dark rile up instead me. Something that will attack. My hands clench into fists and my vision turns red and—

"M320! R56! Break it up!"

Guards are piled on us in seconds. All that registers with me is the pain in my arm. At eight years old, it feels like my whole arm is about fall off.

The next thing I know I'm getting led away. I'm gripping my arm and the guard is complaining about the blood everywhere. The red jumpsuit kid is getting scolded harshly.

I think to myself, suddenly, and vividly: this is justice?

The police haven't done anything about my parents. I'm getting punished for crimes I've never done. My parents' murderer runs free on the streets. What is wrong with this city?

They bandage my arm. But instead of taking me back to my holding cell, they lead me down an unfamiliar hallway. My mind, still fuzzy from pain, jumps to conclusions like that they're going to beat me for fighting or put me in solitary confinement.

Instead, I get led into a cushy office and plopped in a soft green velvet chair. I look around in bewilderment.

"Mr. Wayne, you can come in now."

"What was with that delay? I have been trying to schedule this meeting for weeks..." A man walks in with a sharp jaw and clear blue eyes. He's wearing a fancy suit. At Haley's the other circus members would always get upset or angry when someone in a suit showed up.

I shrink down in my seat.

"Yes, yes, well, we have a busy schedule around here too, Mr. Wayne. We all can't be like that Man-Bat and beat up these despicable children, no we have to confine them and rehabilitate them." I recognize the voice of the warden from the loudspeakers. He sounds nasally and sarcastic.

"I'm pretty sure he's called 'Batman', Mr. Warden. And I will be talking with your superiors."

The warden seems to find this amusing but finally leaves me alone with this Mr. Wayne.

He sits in the chair next to me instead of on the other side of the oak desk.

"Richard Grayson."

It's the first time I've heard my name in a long time.

"They told me you don't speak English. I know that's not true."

I frown.

The man sighs, rubbing a hand through his perfect hair. "My name is Bruce Wayne. I'm going to take you away from this place—what happened to your arm?" His voice suddenly sounds urgent.

I look down. In the confusion, I almost forgot about the fiery pain emanating from my injury. "I was in a fight."

"Good god. A knife fight? With someone obviously skilled too..."

I don't wonder how Bruce Wayne knew that. Not yet, anyways. "What do you want from me?"

"I want you to come home with me. As my ward. You'll get whatever you what, I'm quite rich, you know. The finest education, the finest food. You'll never have to come back here again."

I stare at him suspiciously. "No thanks."

He frowns. "What? Why not?"

"I don't need help. I'm perfectly fine." I hug my injured arm closer. My voice takes on the city lilt like the other Juvie kids. "I can handle it."

Bruce Wayne's face softens. He reaches out as if to touch me and I flinch away. "Sorry," he says softly.

I call him something rude in Romani.

He raises an eyebrow. "This isn't the place for you. If you want to be free, I'm your ticket out."

I look at him snobbishly and tease, "So even if I use you, you'd still set me free? How nice of you, Mr. Wayne."

Bruce Wayne deflates. He reminds me of my dad, suddenly, except younger and with no mustache. "You remind me a lot of me when I was a kid. I need you to trust me, Richard. Come home with me. I don't want you to get any further...damaged."

I gulp heavily and scowl. "No thank you."

Bruce Wayne scowls. "I was there, that night, I should have done something... I watched them fall to Richard. Just like...This isn't right, what happened to you. This isn't justice."

Ah, I think. This guy gets it. He knows what justice is.

"Mr. Wayne," I say, "do you think you can help me get justice?"

Bruce Wayne looks me in the eyes. I feel a chill as I unknowingly see a bit of the Bat peak through. "You have my word."

I hold out my small child hand, just as I had seen my father do when closing deals at the Circus. "Okay then."

Bruce Wayne smiles for the first time since coming into the room. "Alright then. We have a deal, Richard."

I sniffle and puff up to seem tough. "You can call me Dick."

Bruce Wayne laughs. "You can call me Bruce then. I think we'll be a real dynamic duo, huh, Dick?"

I scoff with all my eight-year-old sass. "I doubt it."

Thanks guys. PLEASE review. I love you all so much. Prepare yourselves for some bat family next chappie ;)


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